Rarely do I comment on animated things other than the PPG much anymore (because let’s face it, first off this is a PPG blog, and second off I am 2000% jaded with animation as a whole and barely pay attention to what’s happening in it) and I know I usually hate things made from existing properties, BUT I saw it this morning and

SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE GOOD

I totally get why the critics don’t completely love it, and it has its problems, but overall it’s fun and ridiculous and exciting and cute and goofy and imaginative… just like a Super Mario Bros. game is. If you wanna just have a fun and silly time with all the Mario pals and see them get into Antics™️, I recommend it!

also my special favorite boy Bowser is in it and he steals the show ✨💖✨ sorry not sorry I AM SO GLAD HE IS PERFECCCCTTTTT and also nice to see the villain being a villain for a change I’m sick of like surprise villains and all that YOU GO KING WOOOOOO

Romance tropes are good and all, but you know what relationship trope is real juicy? Mentor/student. Now before you roll your eyes and brush me off, I’m not talking about the run-of-the-mill Ben Kanobi and Luke Skywalker mentor/student relationship where a wise old man teaches a curious youngster a skill set that makes them priceless. While the student might be frustrated with or appreciative to the mentor, the emotional connection there is pretty shallow. When the mentor dies we shrug it off, the student cries a little bit, everyone forgets them and there’s next to no emotional impact.

No, I’m talking about the relationship between a rebellious, rude teenager deemed worthless by society. Im talking about a straight rod, middle aged mentor with a religious zeal for honor and who has probably never broken a single rule in their life (Bonus points if they had a legalistic, obedience centered job such as a police officer or military veteran). Hear me out here.

Student is a messed up, broken kid either lacking authority or with crappy parental figures that don’t care about them. They’re a rebel and a troublemaker by choice and whether they’re proud of it or not they’re not going to change any time soon. Finally society gets to a point where they’re not going to tolerate student’s crap any longer and are ready to make an example out of them. That’s where mentor comes in. The clean-cut mentor sees the world as a system of values where everything is either right or wrong and there are no gray areas. They are not only the most respected person in society but one of the most adored. In other words, they are the exact opposite of student. When student faces harsh charges for their actions, mentor takes pity on them, resolving that if only someone had taught the teenager the difference between right and wrong they would be a loyal, upstanding citizen. Suddenly mentor is enlightened. What if THEY were the one to take student under their wing and change the course of their life? What a noble cause! Confident in their ability as a teacher, mentor offers to take student under their care and make it their personal responsibility to indoctrinate them. Student is reluctant to accept this because it means losing all of their previous freedom to an unsuspecting, ignorant mentor, but they have no choice. Student knows one thing for sure though. Mentor is going to regret this decision every moment they’re together.

Fast forward and nothing is going according mentor’s plan at all. Student is going out of their way to cause trouble and be disrespectful, and when mentor tries to teach them anything they blatantly ignore them, making it very clear that they don’t care. Mentor slowly begins to realize that they don’t know the first thing about raising children and have never once in their whole life felt so discouraged and clueless. The pressure builds up, until finally after a yelling argument with the kid the mentor breaks and tells them they wish they had never tried to help the student in in the first place. However, what hurts mentor the most is student’s response. “Figures. Nobody’s ever wanted me. I wouldn’t expect you to either.” The matter-of-fact apathy in student’s demeanor kills the mentor. They excuse themselves.

This confirms to student that they aren’t wanted and though they’re not surprised or even disappointed, for some reason their heart feels heavy and they decide to make things easy on the mentor. Later on that night, mentor is summoned. Student had gone behind their back and committed a heinous crime. To the rest of the community the solution is clear. They pat the mentor on the back and assure them that they did everything they could, that just by trying to redeem the lost soul they had proven to be one of the most heroic members of society. However, student has proven themselves impossible to correct and therefore must be dealt with rashly (e.g. they could be hanged for their crimes, sent to a juvenile prison, an asylum, a slave in the coal mines, just whatever works best for the fictional universe they’re in). What it all boils down to is that mentor doesn’t just have the right to bring the student to justice, but they should. It’s not just the fair choice, but it’s the wise, honorable, right choice. It’s the perfect situation for them. Give up the student that’s caused them nothing but pain and be hailed a hero.

They can’t do it. For the first time in their life, mentor is tempted to go against their better judgement, their honor and the wise counsel of their peers and make an emotional decision. Student was wrong when they said that nobody wanted them. Mentor wants them, though they can’t quite explain why.

Mentor is told they’re making a mistake, that their choice is foolish, that they’re just prolonging students overdue judgement, but they don’t care. They have made their decision. Mentor will recompense for student’s actions and though it will cost them both their honor and their physical possessions, they will take student back as their own and won’t give up trying to get through to them. Student is in shock. They had never dreamed that someone would sacrifice so much for a person who didn’t deserve it- specifically them. For the first time in their life they felt wanted. Protected. Heck, even loved.

Student doesn’t change over night, but they’re clearly more respectful towards mentor, more enamored by them and more receptive of their teaching. They no longer see mentor as their slaveholder, but as their protector and friend. Mentor doesn’t go easy on them and student does not hesitate to complain about the workload, but they begin to work with a new zeal because now they have a motive to work. They want to make mentor proud. For the first time they realize they’re desperately starved for mentor’s approval, so they work hard , begin to copy their habits, even go out of their way to do things without being asked. They never talk about their feelings, but they want to be close to mentor. For the first time they know what it feels like to be loved, and they want to return that love in every way possible.

Mentor has no idea what possessed student to change, but nothing in the world could have made them happier. They begin to recognize the student’s longing for approval and it occurs to them how much they want to pay it forth. Mentor knows what it’s like to do great things and be praised for their deeds, but they have never been more proud of anything than the scruffy little public nuisance that lived in their house. Student wasn’t just their responsibility, they became their joy. They were proud enough to call them their son/daughter.

Of course student doesn’t become perfect overnight. Clearly they revert to what they know and cause trouble multiple other times. However, the disappointment master expresses to them when they’re caught is enough to make them realize that they’re former way of living is no longer appealing to them. They value their mentor’s opinion too much and nothing hurts more than their disapproval.

This is just a sample of a mentor student relationship that could work in a variety of different storylines. It doesn’t need to be the main focus of the story (i.e. if the theme is action and adventure, then the student and mentor might be forced to go on a dangerous expedition, or the student might grow up and leave the mentor, or either the student or mentor is taken and the other has to go save them, something like that). What’s great about this relationship trope is that it creates a solid base for an impactful story. It might explain where the student gets their ideals, why they’re so strongly committed to their mission, or why the mentor is willing to give up everything they hold true to in order to save one specific person. If done correctly, imagine how painful it would be to the readers if either the mentor or student had to sacrifice themselves for the other. Imagine the arguments. Imagine them crying because they’re sick with worry for the other one.

The thing that sets this relationship apart from the Obi Wan and Luke mentor/student trope is the focus is on the relationship and not either person’s abilities or personal value. Both the mentor and student have to give up aspects of themselves, but they end up with something they value much more. It’s what’s special about both characters. I believe the lack of this relational foundation in most movies and books is why viewers lack interest in the main character’s goal when they’re looking for someone they care about. If the relationship is the backbone of the character’s motives, then it needs to be the backbone of the audience’s reason to cheer the character on.

What sets this apart from romance tropes (other than romance tropes being ridiculously overused) is that this is a relationship trope almost everyone can relate to. Not everybody has fallen in love, but everyone has had an authority figure in their life and many have had authority over someone else. The audience can relate to the characters, and the relationship becomes more real to them. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with a romance trope when it’s DONE RIGHT, in my personal opinion, a well executed mentor/student trope tops all else. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for middle aged, honor-centered, FLAWED military veterans and rebel teen nuisances becoming each other’s everything. You can judge for yourself.

Psycho Analysis: The Grinch

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

What can be said about the Grinch that hasn’t already been said a million times by a million different people? The Grinch is easily one of the most iconic Christmas characters of all time, up there with the likes of Scrooge, and he even has a similar character arc in which he learns the true meaning of Christmas and becomes a better person. The original Chuck Jones animated short has gone down as one of the most beloved Christmas specials of all time as well as one of the best Dr. Seuss adaptations ever (if not THE best), and it gave the Grinch his iconic theme song which every other adaptation has seen fit to use.

The Jim Carrey live action take and the Illumination version which featured Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role both tried to bring a fresh take to the world’s most beloved classic Christmas curmudgeon, but did they succeed in making him entertaining and engaging as a villain is the real question?

Actor: In the original Chuck Jones short, none other than Frankenstein’s monster himself, Boris Karloff, portrayed the Grinch, but this is mostly due to the fact he was the narrator of the story and the Grinch is the only character who really speaks due to the tale being mostly shown from his POV. Still, let’s not pretend like Karloff isn’t the definitive voice here, especially considering his competition.

Carrey and Cumberbatch are both good actors, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think they really do the Grinch all too much justice. Carrey, bless his heart, at least comes fairly close, with his Grinch being in line with the original, but at the same time this is a comedic Carrey character coming off of his 90s run as a wacky comic actor. Carrey injects that manic Carrey energy into the performance, and while I think it’s a good performance, I don’t necessarily find it to be a good Grinch,

Cumberbatch faces a similar issue, not helped by his decision to use a weird American accent as opposed to his natural British one, leaving his Grinch sounding like a nasally dork. Again, he doesn’t do a terrible job by any means, but his performance certainly does nothing to convince you the Grinch is a mean, rotten soul.

Motivation/Goals: The Chuck Jones Grinch sticks to the original book to a fault; the Grinch is just a cranky jerk who hates Christmas for some inexplicable reason, and so decides to ruin it for everyone out of petty spite. Yes, it lacks any sort of depth, but the Grinch is a character from a children’s book and he just puts so much darn effort into his plan that it’s really easy to forget he’s just doing this because he is just a miserable bastard.

The two other attempts at the Grinch have gone a long way to giving him some sort of tragic backstory explaining his hatred for Christmas. And… I actually really like that. Yes, yes, villains can just do villainous things because they’re jerks, but I do appreciate the other adaptations attempting to do something interesting with the character and make him a bit more engaging in a feature-length product. In the Jim Carrey film, the Grinch becomes bitter and evil due to a childhood of constant bullying, while the Benedict Cumberbatch Grinch was a lonely orphan who never got to celebrate Christmas. While obviously it’s up to the viewer to decide whether or not these backstories add any sort of interesting element to the Grinch’s hatred of Chrtistmas, it’s hard to deny that it makes a bit more sense than the Grinch suddenly and randomly deciding after half a century that this Christmas was going to be the last ever.

Personality: While this section of Psycho Analysis is going to be semi-retired, the three Grinches are actually a perfect example of where examining the personalities of the characters can actually show a lot about the overall quality. Obviously, the original Grinch is exactly what a Grinch should be, at least in my eyes: a bitter, miserable curmudgeon who takes great joy in bringing misery to others with his selfish, senseless acts of holiday thievery. He’s a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

The Carrey Grinch does still have these elements, but it’s a bit outshone by Carrey’s hammy performance. His Grinch is about as wild as Ace Ventura or the Riddler, and while hammy villains are always fun – and there’s no denying the Grinch is – it makes it a lot easier to see him eventually turning to the light side, especially since he’s actually shown to have some redeeming qualities.

These issues are continued into Cumberbatch’s Grinch, and in fact here the problems peak. Cumberbatch’s Grinch from the start comes off as more as mildly irritated jerk, yet one who really doesn’t seem evil at all, and as the story continues he seems far more like a depressed, unhappy man with undiagnosed mental illness who is suffering due to childhood trauma. You don’t want to say this guy has termites in his smile or that he’s slippery as an eel or that you wouldn’t touch him with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole; you just want to give him a hug and tell him that things are going to get better. He just seems like he needs a friend, not a total life-changing epiphany.

Final Fate: We all know how it goes; his heart grows three sizes and he learns the true meaning of Christmas. Each of the adaptations keeps this in, though obviously to diminishing returns as each successive adaptation has made the Grinch nicer from the get-go in some regard due to the tragic backstories and whatnot.

Best Scene: At least for the original, his best moment is, of course, the montage during “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch,” in which we get to see all of the slippery ways this green meanie is ruining the holidays. Of course, this is matched by the epic moment at the end where the Grinch gains super strength from his heart growing three sizes and lifts the sleigh of stolen goods, which is equally awesome whether it’s te animated one or Jim Carrey doing it.

Cumberbatch’s Grinch manages to have a different moment to call his best: after he has redeemed himself, he gets invited to dinner in Whoville, and the scene where he nervously goes to the house and makes small talk is just very sweet and endearing. It’s easily the best scene in the movie and shows that even watered down there’s still plenty of heart to be mined from this timeless tale.

Final Thoughts & Score: I think that the fact that the Grinch is constantly being reimagined is a sign at how impressive and enduring he is as a character, and he’s easily the greatest Christmas villain of all time (with apologies to Hans Gruber, Mr. Potter, Burgermeister Meisterburger, and Kirk Cameron). The original special is obviously the definitive portrayal of the character, to the point where the Grinch became a household name and got himself two more specials, one in which he once again terrorized Whoville (this time with a wagon filled with nightmarish hallucinations) and one where he faced off against the Cat in the Hat, the latter being especially notable for beating Zack Snyder to the punch at making “Crossover Versus Movie in Which One of the Title Characters Is Redeemed By Mentioning His Mother” by 34 years.

The original Grinch even effected himself; his iconic green, almost goblin-like appearance was a departure from the book, where he sort of resembled a more mischievous Who, and it has ended up sticking for the character ever since. Throw in that iconic villain song about how foul he is sang by Thurl Ravenscroft AKA Tony the Tiger, as well as the fact that “Grinch” is up there with “Scrooge” as shorthand for someone who hates Christmas, and it’s easy to justify letting the Chuck Jones take on the Grinch steal not only Christmas, but an 11/10.

Carrey’s take on the character is different, but not bad. I’m not going to say it’s good either, though; I still think Carrey hammed it up too much and just let loose his manic energy. And it’s really weird, because I have a soft spot for the film and I love the performance, and I think the insane energy of Carrey’s performance is what elevates the film and has helped it become a sort of holiday cult classic, but I think that it kind of misses the point of how the Grinch should be. It really boils down to the usual thing with these adaptations that try and add complexities to characters that just work better when they are simple: Jim Carrey’s Grinch is a great, fun character, but he just isn’t a great Grinch. Still, the makeup and costuming is so amazing that I’d feel like a Grinch myself if I stole too many points, so I think a 6/10 is a solid score for a performance that manages to be a bit above your average villain.

And then we get to Cumberbatch. I’m just going to say it: I barely consider his Grinch a villain. He’s just too nice and sad and cranky to really be evil. Sure he has wacky inventions, sure he is a bit passive aggressive to the Whos, but god this guy is just not mean enough. The fact he can just walk into town and interact with the townsfolk and they don’t even bat an eye says a lot about how watered down and toothless this take on the character is. Not helping is the safe, soft design Illumination gave him, as well as Cumberbatch’s weird American accent. Still, I don’t think this Grinch deserves worse than a 4/10 when it comes right down to it. In this case, it’s more that what’s interesting about him as a character saves him from sinking any lower than just being subpar as opposed to the problem with Carrey being that what made him interesting as a character made him less appealing as a Grinch. This guy does still try and steal Christmas, after all… It’s just that he’s so nice to begin with that you really aren’t too shocked when he does end up turning over a new leaf.

While it’s obvious the Grinch has had his ups and downs over the years, the fact he is such a legendary figure and an enduring cultural icon really says a lot for his staying power, as well as that sometimes a simple villain that lacks any complex motivation beyond “he’s a jerk” can really resonate with people. Maybe all of these other adaptations don’t quite measure up to the original animated special, but they don’t need to; it’s just interesting to see what different visions for the Grinch look like from different creators. Whether it’s good or bad, one thing is for sure: he’s a mean one, that Mr. Grinch, and we all love him for it.

You know what we don’t love him for, though? His dental hygiene. 

Merry Christmas!

...alright fuq it lemme explain my thoughts about the finale spoilers lol

Don’t worry, I WILL be posting this under a read-more so PLEASE turn away and ignore this now (especially with some “spoiler” tags on if you use ‘em) if you don’t want to be spoiled for the finale until it officially airs. I just can’t contain my thoughts no more after ponderin’ them and who knows when it’ll officially air in English (’cause slow schedules can be a pain to deal with lol) sooooo... yeah you’ve been warned xp 

...Ooooh boi, well admittedly I kinda skimmed through what the whole plot was about behind the last three episodes (I was moreso focused on all the stuff happening for “The Last Problem” so lol), but I’ll try to keep it brief for the most part:

-So... that whole thing about Grogar being the last “big bad” was just a total lie... since apparently it was just Discord masking himself as the guy just to give Twilight one last battle to face? ...Ehhh, I get that he apparently had “good intentions” but this just seems to be pushing it too far even for Discord’s standards tbh... like these are his friends now (including Fluttershy, his best friend) so why would he allow this much risk to be thrown at them for the sake of just teaching them a valuable lesson about overcoming obstacles? ._. Then again, this IS Discord we’re talking about so him pulling some shady stuff like this is to be expected, I guess? Idk...

-As another twist to the trio of bad guys... NONE of them get redeemed at the end (not even Cozy Glow... who again, is nothing more than a whiny child compared to Chrysalis and Tirek :P), as they all pretty much get blasted with the same stone spell that Discord was under for what I can presume to be forever. I mean... had Sombra been placed in Cozy Glow’s position then I guess I’d be a bit more satisfied with this kind of ending for them instead of feeling questionable about it (’cause again, Cozy’s young age ^^;)... but at the same time, for what it is it’s at least a refreshing change of pace from just having them all instantly forgiven and befriended by all the main heroes. Now that would’ve been cringey... >_<

-We got a reaaally big group of cameos from many past ponies/other creatures from the show to aid in the final battle, including Sunset and a few of the MLP movie characters like Tempest, Capper and Skystar! o.o A shame that Captain Celaeno couldn’t have been added along with them but still, pretty cool to see that particular trio regardless along with my girl Sunset ❤️ about time the main show acknowledged her importance to Twilight -.-

-Moving onto the big finale itself, “The Last Problem”, we cut ahead to I presume to be a couple decades or so since the last episode... where Twilight and her friends are all grown up and leading their own lives as Twilight’s pupil (Luster Dawn, was it?) comes to prepare herself for her own first friendship lesson. Surprisingly, unlike past finales it’s not so much a really heavy or action-packed episode but more of a “relaxing breather” kinda filler... yet still pushes the feels the more we get to see the aged-up cast and realize how this truly is the end for our heroes :(

-We’re also given a nice flashback to Twilight’s coronation as Equestria’s new leader, though it didn’t go according to plan it still provided some heartwarming feels to teach that friendships will always remain solid even if some end up moving far away. Awww ;w;.

-As for the “Grown up” designs themselves... I’m kinda torn, tbh lol

On one hand, I do like Rainbow’s, Fluttershy’s, and AJ’s older looks just fine. AJ’s especially gives me the feels looking at it ‘cause of the shawl... really hits in that poor Granny Smith is no longer around by this time :( at least she’ll always keep her memory strong in her heart ❤️

As for Twilight, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie... ehhhh ^^;. Rarity’s sparkly shawl is rather pretty though that big grey steak in her hair kinda clashes too much with the regular purple imo, Pinkie’s beehive look could’ve been fine if they just took out all that random junk in her hair, and while part of me kinda likes the “ethereal princess-y” vibes of Twilight (despite the rather dark implications that she’s gonna outlive her friends now ;-;)... the fact that she still sounds like her old dorky self when speaking kinda kills the effect for me... plus idk if only a couple decades in the future would be enough to make her this tall as an alicorn, I mean even Luna (who’s older than her) is alot shorter so it’s just a little off-putting to me to see her so “Celestia”-sized ^^;. And as for Spike... yeah, I don’t even know what’s going on there, so... let’s just move on, please lol.

So then we get to look over how everyone else in Ponyville’s doing, with so many new species living there now, some old kiddos grew up like the CMC and the Cake twins, Starlight and her friends (plus the Student 6) continuing to run the friendship school together, and apparently some canon couples started to thrive during this time too including Lyra and Bon Bon, Big Mac and Sugar Belle, and... Pinkie and Cheese? o.o 

...Um, wow lol Wasn’t really expecting that considering that most of Cheese and Pinkie’s previous screentime together (which was only in like, two episodes?) wasn’t really that romantic from what I can recall, but guess the writers decided to just throw it in anyway ‘cause it’s a popular ship? lol I mean, not like it’s a bad one or anything but it still feels a bit randomly-placed in a narrative sense imo ^^;

Speaking of their daughter (Lil Cheese, I think?), while I do think she’s cute, part of me is kinda disappointed that they didn’t really get more creative with her design like they’ve done for Flurry Heart and the Cake twins :c. Color-wise she looks okay but... why just make her a recolor of her mom’s filly design? .-. Even putting her hair in some pigtails or something would’ve worked better imo.

-Some more design nitpicks I had were certain weirdly placed hairstyles like Pumpkin Cake’s and Diamond Tiara’s, as well as why Gummy the alligator just looks like he resized into a giant than legitimately grew into an adult lol. Also this might also be nitpicky but why exactly is everyone (minus Twilight) so old-looking with grayed hair and/or eye bags (ex. Rarity and Sugar Belle), when a couple of them have school-aged children at this point? .-. Hell, even most of the Mane 6′s parents didn’t look this old (including Twilight’s, and they’ve got a granddaughter lol), so I’m kinda confused by this type of design choice tbh.

-I don’t really remember if they explicitly stated what happened to the old princesses during this time since they didn’t show up again, nor what the final fates of Shining Armor and Cadence were (save for a brief shot of Flurry Heart having her own stain-glass window in the throne room). Idk, just would’ve been nice to have gotten more explicit about that ‘cause I don’t wanna think of these poor royals being gone now with just Twilight being the leader now ;-; 

-I guess there was also a couple “implied” ships thrown in too like Fluttershy and Discord (though that one might be more “loose” to interpret, depending on how much you like the ship) and apparently AJ and Rainbow Dash seem to be having something “deeper” going on considering they specifically walked in together when all the other Mane 6 walked in individually into the throne room. Hmmm...?

-And lastly after a bit more filler and than a montage song of the Mane 6 harmonizing together one last time, we get to close off the entire episode, season, and series with one final shot of the heroes standing on a sunset-y hillside together, saying goodbye to Twilight’s student who goes off on her own friendship adventures... and then the screen fades to a book closing as a call back to the very first episode of the series over 9 years ago... where the exact same book opened up to start off our beloved show to begin with T-T

....aaaand yeah my feels exploded over again, sorry T-T. Despite the lil nitpicks I had here and there (and how I wish certain plot holes could’ve been handled better in hindsight), this was still a really sweet and thoughtful way to end MLP: FiM with one last batch of fluff like this... the end of a good 9-year run of the show which’ll surely leave a special place in every fan’s hearts, including mine ❤️

Though again, like I mentioned before I still won’t be considering any of this actually “canon” in the main universe I’m setting up, which is all basically an AU at this point since I haven’t really been keeping up with the show as frequently to care much for sticking with the main canon :p. For my fellow content creators, please don’t be afraid to keep working on your own next gens and such btw, even if some of it might be contradicted in this particular finale I’d say anyone is free to make their own interpretations however they want, canon or no canon~ ;p

  Hope y’all understand that well and I hope you guys have a great rest of your day! 😃 

that’s our kind of love

A little belated birthday gift for @happilyswanjones! Happy birthday!! Also congratulations on getting me to write my first Arrow fic, it needed to happen anyways :)

William Clayton had grown up with a pretty good idea of what love was.

Love was his mom being there to tuck him into bed every night and waking him up with pancakes every morning.

Love was the way they would have movie nights every Friday, watching Star Wars and superhero movies over and over again.

Love was when he would see his mom for the first time after a school camp and would go leaping into her arms for the biggest hug ever.

But one man changed that, took all the love William had ever known away from him. Just like that.

For a long time, a dark time, after that, William forgot what love looked like. What it felt like. Only one person, the one he was supposed to love, was left.

But he didn’t love Oliver Queen.

He was the reason the bad man killed his mom, he just knew it. He couldn’t bare to love him, even tolerate him. In his eyes, that crime was unforgivable.

William thought nothing could redeem his father. How could it? He had no idea what love was. If he did, he would have saved his mom, superhero or not.

But then a woman came over to help him with math homework, and in that instant, he knew he’d been wrong. Oliver Queen did understand love.

Because the way he looked that Felicity Smoak…that was something different, like nothing he’d ever seen before.

That was love. Right in front of his eyes.

So, when she started staying over, when his dad proposed, when they got married and were ready to live happily ever after, William changed, too. He thought maybe, maybe, he could love them too.

--

Oliver Queen had a fickle relationship with love.

His parents had always had it, to some degree. Once he would have said it was the truest love he’d ever seen. Until he’d learnt about Malcom, all those years later.

He’d had it, once, early on, with Laurel. But it wasn’t enough. Maybe it was to rebel against his parents’ example, maybe it was just him. But then came Sara, and all the others.

He loved Speedy, though. That was certain.

When his father sacrificed himself, shot himself in the temple in order to endure Oliver’s survival, he knew in that moment, that sort of love was something he’d never understand.

Then came the island, cold and dark, not a place any self-respecting person would look for love.

(Oliver Queen was many things, but self-respecting was not at the top of the list.)

He loved Shado for a time, until she was killed. They were always taken away, that was the catch. Even years later, his mother was gone, his father was gone, Sara was gone. Before long, he’d seen Laurel and Thea gone.

But since getting off the island, there’d been one person, always and constantly standing by his side. The I.T girl with the red pen, who saw through his lies without a second thought, but did what he asked anyway. She trusted him, with no real reason to. And before long, he started trusting her too.

They were partners, allies, a team. Respect and trust started being a staple in their relationship, and as time went on, so did love.

Her loved her. He knew with all his heart that his life would only get better with her in it. She was the light, the bright spot of happiness in his otherwise dark life. It took them some time, too much time, really, but it was worth it. Every goddamn minute.

He didn’t expect to be a father so soon. He’d let himself dream about it before, first with Laurel, then with Sara, even during those few months of peace with Felicity.

But then came that one visit to Central City, and the boy with the Flash action figure.

William.

He’d known it as soon as he’d seen the boy, when he saw Samantha for the first time in years. He was his.

It was only through tragic circumstances that William became part of this life, but Oliver was thankful nonetheless. He loved the boy, even if the boy didn’t love him back.

When Chase kidnapped William, held a gun to his head, Oliver started to understand that love he saw in his father’s eyes, all those years ago in the exact same spot. The love that meant sacrifice, the fact that he would have done anything, anything, to save him.

But they still weren’t a family. Not until he saw his son and Felicity doing homework, baking cookies (which she’d claimed was the same thing), playing video games; seeing them together, the happiness that was finally in his life, that was what love was, almost as if it was a palpable thing.

Maybe he’d lost people he loved, but he had so many still here.

--

Love was a thing of fiction in Felicity Smoke’s early life. All she had was her mom, who granted, loved her enough, and a deadbeat dad who ran off and left them when she was young.

Love didn’t exist.

When she met Cooper in college, she though, maybe. Maybe somehow, in her messed up, empty life, there was room for something as least resembling love. They understood each other when no one else did, as if they spoke their own special language. They planned to save the world together, changing the city, one hack at a time.

She’d cursed herself for being so stupid.

He left, just like her dad, and for years afterwards, she tried to blend in. No one really saw her, a quiet I.T girl in a big company. She was just a face.

Until one face picked her out and handed her a bullet-ridden laptop.

She knew who Oliver Queen was, everyone did. News spread, not only of his dance with death, but also of his reputation.

She’d had to admit, that didn’t match up with the man she was seeing in front of her.

She trusted him, much to her horror. She’d never fully trusted anyone in a long time. But then he trusted her with what was perhaps the biggest secret of their lives.

And she let it take over her life. Let him take over. Felicity knew what was coming, could feel it happening.

She was falling in love with the Green Arrow. Oliver Queen. Whoever.

The one thing she’d sworn never to let herself do, and she was diving in head first. It killed her for a while, seeing him oblivious, with Laurel or Sara. But even he couldn’t remain blind forever.

A few times, she tricked herself into believing he felt the same. But then, after a while, a long while, something funny happened.

He told her he did.

It wasn’t a smooth ride, assassins and magical villains getting in the way at every turn. But somehow, somehow, they’d survived it.

Felicity may not have believed in love, but the multiverse was making it damn near impossible to maintain that disbelief.

Finding out Oliver had a son was a big hit. She was mad, for a long time.

But then she met the kid, met his mother, saw how Oliver cared, and everything made sense. When Samantha died, she was selfish. Started imagining a life with not only Oliver, but William too: pancakes for breakfast, movie nights, the works.

She set herself for disappointment, but it didn’t come.

Before she could blink, she was launched into this world of field trips and lunches, homework and video games. It made it harder, being a parent, to comprehend how her father could have up and left, no matter what threat was looming over him.

She’d told Oliver once that he’d opened up her heart in a way she didn’t know was possible. That couldn’t have been more accurate.

--

“Dad, you need to get better at this, you’re not even competition anymore,” William complained, throwing his controller beside him on the couch, “I’ll have to wait for Felicity to get back.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t spend my teenagers years glued to a PlayStation!” Oliver defended, following his son’s lead at tossing the controller away.

They heard Felicity’s voice even before the door opened, “Yes, what did you do in your teenage years, my love?”

Smirking as his wife turned the corner and entered the room, he felt his body lighten just a little bit.

“Yeah, dad. What’d you do for fun, shoot arrows around the house?” William shot back, sitting up a little straighter.

“See, Oliver. Inquiring minds want to know.” Felicity teased, perching on the side of the couch near William. The ease they had around each other, anyone could have thought they’d been around each other for years.

Felicity raised a brow at him, clearly interested to hear his response. They both knew for certain that his habits as a teenager were not suitable for young ears.

“I listened to my mom and dad and did whatever they told me,” he replied, tossing a pillow towards his son. Both Felicity and William snorted.

“What, you don’t believe me?” he asked, mock hurt in his voice.

“Nope,” William said quickly, voice flat.

“Not a chance,” Felicity added, the two of them preparing for a high five at the sight of Oliver’s face. Rising from his spot on the couch, he moved slowly towards the two of them, eyes shifting from one to the other before they landed on his wife.

Without warning, he reached one hand under her knees and the other around her shoulders, hoisting her up and carrying her around the living room between explosions of laughter and giggles. After many kicks (and probably bruises), Oliver dropped her back onto the couch, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips.

“Urgh, you guys are gross,” William complained, covering his eyes with the pillow his dad had so affectionately tossed at him minutes earlier.

“Oh, you hear that, Oliver? We’re gross.”

“Good,” Oliver replied, leaning down for more. Upon hearing more groans from his teenage son, he straightened and made his way to the kitchen, returning, much to the delight of Felicity and William, both of whom had a sweet tooth, with the cookies he’d picked up from the store on his way home.

They had already picked up the video game where Oliver had left off.

He smiled, watching the two of them from behind, desperate to capture that moment forever.

--

Later that night, after William had passes out on the couch and Oliver and Felicity moved him into bed, the tiniest little sound escaped from his lips.

“I love you, guys.”

Oliver smiled down at his son. He leant down to press a kiss to his forehead, then moved to wrap an arm around Felicity’s waist, doing the same.

“We love you, too.”

All About Villains!

  A complete transcript of this episode can be found in on the show’s website.

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Devin Davis: Because we all know that in so many stories, the good guys wouldn't be as awesome if they didn't have an equally awesome bad guy. We are talking about villains today on Writing in the Tiny House.  Hello, hello, hello! And welcome back to the show Writing in the Tiny House. I am Devin Davis. I am your host and I am the guy living in a tiny house in Northern Utah, who is here to show you that despite how busy you think you are, that one book idea that you have bubbling in the back of your brain is completely possible to do.

[00:00:59]Over the next few episodes where it is just you and me, I am going to put together a series on villains. We're going to talk about why villains are awesome.

[00:01:11] We're going to talk about believable villain dialogue. Backstory actions, all the good things, because villains are awesome. But first let's do some announcements with the podcast. We actually have a brand new patron who signed up to support this podcast. His name is Sam. Sam, welcome aboard. Thank you so much for your generous donation.

[00:01:36]Sam and I actually go way back. I know Sam, we have been friends for a long time and I was just so excited when he said that he was going to be signing up to become a patron through Patreon with Writing in the Tiny House's program with Patreon. So welcome aboard. Thank you so much for your donation.

[00:01:58]Also a quick shout out to another podcast. I just want to mention the podcast called Finding the Magic, with Trisha Copeland. This is a podcast dedicated entirely to interviewing authors and talking about their books.

[00:02:14] It can be found on, I think this one is exclusively on Anchor. But go ahead and see if it's found everywhere else too. And it's a good one, guys. It is definitely one worth checking out. 

[00:02:27] So this episode will be coming out the Wednesday after Independence Day. I hope that you guys had a good federal holiday. I certainly did. It has been spent putting together a lot of content for this podcast. I've been doing my darndest to get all the interviews lined up and done and interviews are really good.

[00:02:50] Interviews are special. I love the interview episodes. They bring so much value to this podcast and they are actually the episodes that are the most supported. I have been interviewing my head off over these past two weeks to get more of that content here, just because it's something that I enjoy and it is something that has proven to be valuable for all of you as well.

[00:03:17] In the meantime, though, there are still plenty of episodes where it's just going to be you and me and over the next few, it's going to be me and you. And we're going to be talking about villains. So let's go ahead and get into the main body of this episode.

[00:03:32] So let me tell you my story when it comes to villains, what made the villain such a unique part of my enjoyment of fiction? This actually goes back to high school. Yes. I am going to tell you about the magical time that I was in high school. And the Broadway musical Wicked just came out. And of course I bought the soundtrack.

[00:04:01] I knew all the words I went and saw Wicked here in Utah, the instant that it was here playing. And the reason why I bring up Wicked is because of the unique take that that story has on who the villain is. So for those of you who are unfamiliar with the musical Wicked or unfamiliar with the book that the musical is based on, the book is called The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

[00:04:32] The book was hard for me to read, but the musical was wonderful and I would take anybody to see the musical, including all of my kids. The reason why this carved a wonderful, beautiful little space in my heart for villains is because the main character Elphaba is treated like a villain. She is actually the main character.

[00:04:53] She's the person that we are cheering for, but she is misunderstood. She is a victim of circumstance and the entire city notices that she is different and because she is different and because she is powerful, she is treated poorly. She is treated with violence. She is treated with bias and with fear and with all of the horrible things that you could treat a person.

[00:05:22] And so towards the end of the story, or at least I guess the second act, she says "Fine! If this is what you think I am, then this is what I shall be!" And I love that. I love a good villain and my love for villains grew from my experience that I had with this story of Elphaba. And it was from there that I came to really appreciate everything that a good villain brings to the table in a good work of fiction.

[00:05:56] Now, granted, there are plenty of works of fiction that don't have a villain just because the story may revolve around some other form of conflict. It could be disease, it could be a competition. It could be other forms of trials in a person's life. Or it could be that unseen villain, like going up against an institution or something like that.

[00:06:22] So not every work of fiction has a villain, but when it has a villain, I feel that it gets to be a good villain. And that matters.

[00:06:32]With more and more people coming out with fiction with fantasy fiction, with these more epic battles, there gets to be good villains and the classic space opera-- I'm talking to you, Star Wars-- this space opera is where there is an obvious good side and an obvious bad side. And the heroes are pure good heroes and the bad guys are pure bad guys. And there is never confusion about that. With the more recent movies of Star Wars that have come out, they're starting to become more nuanced than that. With the original many episodes and original many movies, it was that classic space opera of the good guys are the good guys. And they're always the good guys.

[00:07:25] And then the bad guys are the bad guys. And now that so many people are writing these epic genre-specific stories, we are beginning to get more nuanced characters and especially more nuanced main characters and better villains. It's becoming more common to see a main character that has a dark side, or that sometimes chooses darkness or chooses a bad thing or chooses to hurt someone. But they're still the good guy. And they're still the person that you're following in the story and kind of rooting for. At the same time you get to see them make these dark decisions. Also it is becoming more common and I'm so grateful for this because of the color that it adds to the storyline. It is becoming more common to see villains that have redeemable qualities, even though their role in the story is not redeemable. Or a villain in their secret identity, they're a family man and they're a good dad and a good spouse, but behind the scenes, they're like ruining the world or you can see a villain who is doing what they're doing, but they have a completely legitimate reason for it. And that adds such wonderful flavor and wonderful complexity to the storyline itself. When you have this guy who is not so obviously evil, it becomes so fun to kind of feel out what do I really want to get out of this story? Or where do I find myself in this conflict? Am I really siding with this main character who's kind of a jerk sometimes? And he was written that way on purpose. Or am I siding with this villain who has a completely legitimate reason to do the things that she is doing? And I get it. Under the same circumstances I would hope that I would be courageous enough to do this too. And so it can be this big, moral dilemma that can kind of rip you apart.

[00:09:42] And I love that and I love the excitement and the confusion, and just the wild ride of being taken on this emotional roller coaster. I love the dichotomy and I love having to choose or to do some soul searching, to see if this was a real circumstance, where would I be? Which team would I be batting for?

[00:10:08]So for today's book review, I am going to talk about a book that is near and dear to me that was released very recently called The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by VE Schwab. This was released just a few months ago and it was one of the first books that I read in 2021. And I knew after I finished it, that it would be one of the best books that I would be reading in 2021. The writing style of this novel is incredible. VE Schwab has definitely built for herself a name in fiction, and she has built it from the ground up. She has done an amazing job and this book, I'm not going to pretend that this book is perfect or complete in all aspects, because it is not. But there is profound beauty found within this book. And the most beautiful parts, I believe, are the exchanges between the main character Addie LaRue and the bad guy, Luc. So I'm not going to give away all of the premise of this book, just because it is something that I want you to go out and read. But the entire premise of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is it is a deal with the devil trope. The devil comes in every other chapter and has a thought-provoking and meaningful conversation with Addie LaRue, where they discuss life and they discuss morality. And it is the most wonderful thought-out villain that I have read in such a long time.

[00:12:03] So add The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue to your To Be Read list today. And I hope that when you read it or if you've already read it, you can share with me your thoughts of the bad guy, Luc, just because I want to hear what you think. It was one of the most impressive things about the story for me, but I want to know what you think, and I want to know what you thought about him as a villain. So be sure to join the Facebook group of Writing in the Tiny House and share with me your thoughts. I give that book and easy five stars. Like I said, the book is not flawless in all respects, but it is definitely a five-star book.

[00:12:49] So go ahead and check that out today. And that is it for today. Thank you so much for joining me with this episode of Writing in the Tiny House. Again, I am Devin Davis and thank you for listening. A big thank you to my new patron, Sam. Welcome aboard.

[00:13:05]If you want to join the Patreon program, go to patreon.com/writinginthetinyhouse. Go ahead and sign up for that today. Also that special shout out to the podcast, Finding the Magic, with Trisha Copeland. You can catch me on Instagram. My handle is @authordevindavis. And the social media things, the links are all in the description of this episode. So thank you for joining and we will see you next time. Have a good one guys.

Check out this episode!

My thoughts on The Last Jedi

Warning in advance, I’m giving my full HONEST opinion about the movie. If you can’t bare to read any type of criticism, I suggest you to ignore this.

Anyway, this movie was all over the place and I have so much to cover; good, bad, and unnecessary. 

This is a long one so let’s jump into it.

First, let’s start off with what good moments this movie did have:

Finn and Rey constantly on one another’s minds; worried about each other’s safety and well-being. Finn doing everything he possible could to make sure Rey would come back to him safely. 

Billie Lourd getting her moment in this movie. Just so proud of her.

Rose admiring Finn’s actions that lead him to the Resistance. She’s basically a teary mess but her smile could melt any cold heart. (Kelly deserves the world.)

Rose and Finn giving the weapons manufactures, rich from blood money, hell in Canto Bight. Rose getting her own form of revenge against the people who oppressed and basically enslaved her and her sister.

>Speaking of revenge, Finn getting his well deserved revenge against Phasma and his oppressors. That was everything. Plus, did you see my boy with that electro-staff.

Leia being a total badass, honing in on her force abilities to pull herself back to the ship. (She really did drown in moonlight.)

Rey being a total badass, ready to kill Snoke at any chance she can get; not backing down once. She’s such a spitfire and I love her with all my heart.

Rey refusing to accept Kylo’s offer to rule the galaxy and force pulling that lightsaber, ready to cut his hand. You know that’s what was going to happen if Kylo had tried to pull it back.

Our Luke and Leia reunion. It’s not what I hoped for, but considering the outcome of the movie, I’m glad we got some sort of reunion. Even if Luke wasn’t physically there on Crate.

Another reunion to make the list; our long awaited FinnRey one. The look on their faces once they catch just a glimpse of each other. Finn running to Rey, wrapping her up in the tightest embrace. Both of their eyes are closed and a smile of peace and relief is plastered to her face. They’re so happy to be by one another’s side again.

Rey and Leia talking on the Falcon. Just that whole moment was very sweet.

Some of the little things I enjoyed:

The visuals were nice.

BB-8. Just BB-8.

Porgs.

Luke ‘yeeting’ his old lightsaber over his shoulder. (Relatable when it comes to adult responsibilities.)

Chewie busting down the door like the god damn S.W.A.T.

Rey with a lightsaber. She definitely knows how to wield that thing.

Finn and Rose’s dynamic. (When she isn’t tazing him.)

Poe Dameron’s beautiful face.

Luke’s dramatic ass.

And that all black Return of the Jedi throwback ensemble is everything.

And his goddamn moves. Like DAMN.

Rey and Poe’s little meet up.

The ending shot of our heroes on the Falcon.

Now onto the bad, and boy was there bad in this movie.

The characterization was so off.

Poe is a arrogant, trigger-happy, hot-head. He’s rude and very chauvinistic to his female superior officers. He goes against orders and puts his friends and fellow Resistance members in danger because of this behavior. This was not the Poe Dameron we seen in TFA and that pisses me off.

Rey, for a moment, is very much in character. At the beggining of the movie, her integrity and hopeful spirit from TFA are there. She is determined to get Luke back to the Resistance to bring hope to the galaxy. However, after a few days she loses said trait, going from “This man is a monster”, to “There is conflict in him. I can turn him back”. That’s where her characterization from TFA just falls off completely. I’m honestly supposed to believe this after all the horrible things Kylo did to her and her friends. No. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen. This sets such a bad and toxic example for young girls who admire Rey. (Thankfully, after she refuses his offer to turn, her characterization returns somewhat.)

Luke “wide-eyed-full-of-hope-optimistic-there-is-good-in-you-i-know-it” Skywalker did not appear in this movie. That man is gone. His characterization was butchered. Instead we are given a shell of a man who is nothing more than that. Just some old, grumpy hermit who lives on an island. He’s made out to be someone so consumed by paranoia that he would murder one of his student, his own nephew, in cold blood. Nah man. I could go on about this but we’d be here until ep.9. He’s a complete 180 in this movie.

The plot was all over the place and consisted of inconsistencies that don’t align with the information given to us in TFA.

The movie is tangible shitty writing.

For two-thirds of the movie, the Resistance is basically just trudging through space trying to fly away from the First Order with no avail. It becomes very boring after the Resistance jumps to light speed to escape. It’s just a stalemate space battle that seems never ending. Like I said, it became very boring to watch.

The treatment of our characters of color for “comedic” purposes was anything but funny.

Finn, Poe, and Rose’s arcs are sidelined; not in the fact that they hardly got any screen time, but that their arcs were basically for nothing. Their arcs had absolute no purpose in this movie. No matter what they did, their actions didn’t matter. In the end, the FO was somehow always a step ahead. Their arcs were pointless in moving the story along, meaning Rian Johnson lied to everyone when he said their arcs were important to the story.

When Rey gets to the island, after a day or so trying to convice Luke to come back, he asks how did she find him. He says that he came to the island because he knew that no one would find him there. Yet, in TFA, Luke was the one who left the map fragments across the galaxy for someone to come find him. That inconsistency bothered me so much. You said you watched TFA Rian, yeah right you lying bitch.

Also, the temple attack described in this movie contradicts what was shown to us in the TFA force vision. In the vision, the attack on the temple was shown to be a premeditated slaughter, but in TLJ were are led to believe that it was a panic fueled event that happened in one night. 

Kylo Ren is made out to be a conflicted boy who doesn’t have a say in his choices; who can’t be blamed for all the terrible things he has done and shouldn’t have to face the consequences of said actions. Were supposed to feel sorry for him but it just makes us hate him more. He whines and throws his little temper-tantrums. He isn’t conflicted. There is no light in him. He is pure evil and there’s nothing anyone can say that will make me think different of his character.

Speaking of blame, all the blame is put on Luke for Kylo turning to the darkside. Not Kylo himself or even Snoke. Again, they turn Luke into a paranoid freak, ready to kill his own nephew, which takes all the burden off of Kylo from his choice to turn, onto Luke’s shoulder. Luke has to carry the blame while Kylo can continue living carefree, free of consequence. Luke takes the blame for Kylo turning to the darkside. It wasn’t Kylo’s fault or choice, Luke pushed him too hard, and Kylo was just a poor helpless boy. 

Snoke was made to be a treacherous villain in TFA but was ultimately underwhelming in this movie, being so easily killed, even with the power he possess. Or should I say possessed. 

Kylo’s treatment of Rey in this movie is absolutely disgusting and very toxic. First, he’s invading her mind time and time again. Even if it was Snoke pulling the strings on that (shitty writing) he still went through with it. He gaslights her. He manipulates her. He talks down to her. He calls her nothing, uses her parents against her, says she’s no one special, that she doesn’t matter to anyone but him. And he only says that in hopes he can use her for his own power hungry needs. And yet, with Rian’s writing, he persistently keeps wanting Rey to redeem Kylo. That’s it. It’s terrible and disgusting to watch.

Speaking of her parentage. That was not a fucking satisfying reveal, Rian Johnson. In fact, from a story-telling perspective, it makes absolutely no goddamn sense following the events of TFA. Plus, how the hell who Kylo even know who her parents are. Again, it makes no sense. SHITTY WRITING!

Also, the whole ‘he’s conflicted and I can bring him back’ came out of nowhere for Rey. It’s as if Rian tried to recreate Luke’s arc from ROTJ and failed miserably. It made Rey look naive and her ‘mission’ to bring Ben Solo back from the dark is completely useless. “Because she heard the story of how Luke brought Vader back” is not a good enough reason. Again, more crappy writing.

There are so many inconsistencies in TLJ that contradict with TFA.

Luke just dying on the island. He uses the force to project himself on Crate and then just disappears. Okay, yeah, he’s at peace, sure, whatever. It doesn’t mean that made this writing decision any more shitty. This, and along with everything else in this movie involving Luke, was unsatisfactory. Luke could’ve done so much. Luke could’ve been there for Leia and for Rey and for the Resistance. No, instead we got this. And it makes absolutely no sense. We don’t know why he just dies/vanishes. There is no explanation.

Also, Rey and Luke’s relationship was suppose to be the heart of this movie. It wasn’t. They’re constantly fighting and at each other’s throats.

Even some of the acting seemed forced and off, as if the actors really didn’t want to be a part of this but were under contract so they had to.

Maz Kanata had more screen time in TFA than in TLJ.

Also, they tried to make Rey and Finn look like complete idiots at least once in the movie. Finn’s walking around naked in the bacta suit, dripping water everywhere, and looking as lost and confused as ever. Rey literally holds out her hand when Luke tells her to reach out. Luke then scratches a leaf or something against her hand and she says she can feel the force from that. Both of those moments were so cringe-worthy, even though to some people it was cute or hilarious. It wasn’t. It made a lead character of color and a lead female character look like idiots. But hey, it was for comedy.

There was so much bad and I’m probably missing a few more things. If I were to try and remember it all, we’d be here until ep. 9. Anyway, let's get into the unnecessary. Which, a lot of this can be qualified under the bad as well and some of these are extremely cringe-worthy..

Every sacrificing death, or every sacrifice in general, made by the Resistance are all for nothing. It doesn’t change the outcome. Every sacrifice, every death in this movie, is for absolutely nothing. They don’t make a damn difference. Again, shitty writing because Rian had no idea how to move the story forward, apparently.

The physical abuse of our POCs.

That stupid shirtless scene of Kylo.

That stupid scene of Luke milking that creature.

Holdo and DJ, or whatever his name is, are pointless characters in this. They’re introduced and then either turn against our heroes or sacrifice themselves for nothing.

The humor was terrible. There was no need for that many terrible, middle-school jokes in this movie. Seriously, it’s one joke after the other or humor that really isn’t funny at all.

Chewie eating a porg in front of the others.

Those island caretaker creatures.

The end with the three children, and the one boy force pulls the broom to him. There was no need for that. It’s not as if that child could fight in the war now. That just came out of nowhere and felt like a young self insert in my opinion.

Anyway, that’s all I can think of at the moment. This list is so lopsided. Goes to show you that shitty writing will never be accepted or ignored, no matter how far back you stuff it behind aesthetics. To finish off, I have a few more statement to make and it’s centered around a certain part of the SW fandom.

Any chance of R/eylo, after this movie is dead. She refuses his offer. She knows there is no light in him. She knows the only way to end the war is to kill him along with the rest of the FO. There is no chemistry there and there is no romance between them.

After he captures her twice, tortures her and her friends, manipulates her, gas-lights her, you should not be shipping this. He uses basic abuse tatics by talking down to her and calling her nothing to everyone but him. He’s only doing that to get what he wants. Again, mental manipulation and mental abuse.

ONCE MORE, R/EYLO is dead.

What I had hoped to see and never got/What I would’ve done:

Rey and Luke’s relationship should’ve been more like Luke’s and Obi-Wan’s in A New Hope. There should’ve been an actual bond rather than them constantly fighting.

Much more Finnrey, more of Rey and Poe interacting, more of the ot3 together kicking ass and taking names. Just better and more interactions between our heroes in general.

Luke actually training Rey like Obi-Wan did with Luke. Just Luke training Rey without hesitation.

An actual satisfying answer to Rey’s parentage. (You could’ve made her a Skywalker and still have made her her own character too. It could’ve prevent this: During and after the original trilogy, the Skywalker family/name is a beacon of hope to the galaxy, yet in this movie, the family/name is written to be a genetic mistake that should be whipped out. You can see what’s wrong with that, right?)

TFA characterization carried over to TLJ.

I could add so much more to the list. But seriously, Rian Johnson should’ve used the information that J.J. Abrams left in TFA to build a story, rather than scraping it to write his own that made absolutely no sense in correlation with TFA.

In conclusion, TLJ was a slap in the face to the fans. It was just a big fuck you to fans of the franchise and to fans of our heroes both old and new When coming up with this story and directing it, Rian Johnson did not care about the fans. In the end, he did not make this movie for the fans. This movie was made for him. It was about making his own mark on the franchise no matter how good or bad that mark was; no matter what he did to the characters and story from here on out to peruse this. It was self-service.

And Kathleen Kennedy did not care about the story, characters, or fans either. This was just another movie to line her pockets with more money. She’s just as much fault here as he is.

So in the end, we’re left with this mess of a movie, (if you could even call it one) that’s ridden with a shaky plot, meaningless sacrifices, and character assassination (both metaphorically and literally), rather than a movie with a meaningful story, sturdy plot, and character development that builds off of the events in TFA.  But hey, the visual aesthetic of the movie is nice, huh?

Anyway, I’m just hurt and disappointing overall. I know I’m not the only one to feel this way. I, along with many fans, invested time and ourselves into these characters and into the story TFA left off with. We were excited to see where those events would take us in the next two movies of the trilogy. I was hopeful aft TFA, and now, I feel nothing. In all honesty, I wish they would’ve just let J.J. Abrams direct all three movies. Hell, I would’ve rather seen rehashes of the original trilogy from these movies than what Johnson threw at us. And if they couldn’t have gotten J.J., they should’ve had Dave Filoni (Rebels) direct this movie. He could have done amazing. But no, we were left with Rian Johnson and is terrible story and his crappy treatment of the characters.

*long, exasperated sigh*

Thanks for your time and feel free to add in anything I missed; good, bad, or unnecessary.

Star Wars Review

There are things I have never seen in my life that everyone’s seen. Marvel movies were one of those once upon a time. So was Star Wars.

I never watched the so-called prequels when they were first out, I guess because of a mix of being taken to watch other movies instead (don’t even ask), and my being into other stuff. Also, I tend to save some things for rainy days (like the LOST epilogue, which I haven’t watched yet — can’t let go!), but I’m not sure why I kept pushing Star Wars back.

Somehow, it became a thing I’d watch once I graduated. And I did that in July. So, naturally, I waited till mid-November to get on with it.

What follows is a review of the entire saga and The Last Jedi, so there are spoilers after the cut.

The sequels

They were so much fun. I still can’t believe a mind can come up with all of that, to make up a world so rich and real, and to make it look the part.

Thinking that it was done 40 years ago only made it more magnificent, as the special effects and all of still looked pretty okay.

Of course I was spoiled for the big things, one cannot simply escape Star Wars, but to see it all play out was very much enjoyable.

Plus, let’s be real, all signs pointed at Lord Vader being Luke’s father, so...

Character-wise, I freaking loved Luke so much. It was distracting that he looked just like Seb, but such is life.

Leia and Han were close behind, truly. As was R2-D2, one of the cutest androids in the galaxy!

One minor issue to me was that I did wish we knew more about all of them — it felt like we knew them, but we didn’t know about them.

The prequels*

Anakin, oh, Anakin! He was such a cutie as a kid, why did he have to grow up?

Honestly, these were not as much fun, but I and III had stuff going for them. The first one because it was seeing this world from a different perspective, in a different time, meeting new people, learning more about how everything works and where it all started. The third one because it’s the conclusion, and though you knew how it’d end, it’s still powerful to see it all come together.

I wanna highlight that, interestingly enough, I believe the prequels were the first step towards answering some of those issues I had mentioned. It’s not that we learned about the characters specifically, but knowing where they were coming from definitely made a difference and added to their cause.

Cast-wise, I think they might have made a few mistakes there, but Ewan, I love with all my heart always.

*Prequel is not a proper word because the prefix “se-” is not a thing, and neither is the root “quel” and I hate it, I had to say that. I’m all for descriptivism, but this one bugs the hell outta me!

The Force Awakens

SO MUCH FUN. Sure, it was a repeat of A New Hope in more ways than one, but they managed to make it feel like a homage, and they added LOTS of cool things, and funny bits, and heart.

Poe. Dameron. I fucking love Oscar so fucking much and so I loved Poe and his fucking beautiful face was so pretty all the time. Best damn pilot, captain of my heart, I love him forever and ever.

REY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She’s so important, okay? Watching the sequels, it’s particularly jarring how there were men everywhere all the time, and Leia’s pretty much the only woman in the galaxy. They tried to make it better with the prequels, but it wasn’t all it should’ve. Here, they put a woman front and center, and Leia’s there too, as are others. Not enough, not quite, but getting there.

Finn, I had so many feels!!! Like, he defected, and there was Poe. And Poe gave him a name, and the jacket (it was coming, but fucking Oscar and his face made it a million times better), and they’re love. Finn’s trying to get out of a bad situation that he didn’t want in the first place, and ended up being a hero and just FINN!!! I think his name sums it up.

Seeing Chewie, Han and Leia back felt emotional even though it hadn’t been 40 years for me. The movie did so well by them, but I was so incredibly sad for Han and Leia and how their lives turned out.

And then I was sad because FUCKING KYLO REN killed Han. Like, there’s no going back. There was no going back before, because he tortured my baby Poe and Rey, but this was it. No coming back, no redemption, nothing. I’m not sure why, but I don’t care for Adam Driver at all, so that didn’t help the slightest bit.

In this sense, I gotta highlight that Vader, as scary as he was supposed to be, never really messed with our people in this way. So while he was the bad guy, killing planets and all, he hadn’t done anything to characters we cared about until he fought Luke... and we know how that one turned out.

Oh, and then there was LUKE, BACK and cloaked, AND I SCREAMED.

Rogue One

This movie hurt my feelings so much. I kept trying to place it within the Star Wars world, and the moment I figured when it was located... Not a good thing to figure out.

So many great characters, it’s honestly such a shame that we only got a little bit of time with them.

At the same time, it was amazing to see how the Rebellion started, the why and the who and all that.

Jyn and Cassian were so great together. I don’t even mean romantically, just, so good, and I can’t believe they were taken from us.

Bodhi is the second greatest pilot in the galaxy and I loved him.

I sorta wish there had been more female characters, it felt like a step back in that sense.

Learning that the bad guy, Ben Mendelsohn, was a Star Wars superfan was the most hilarious and awesome thing.

This time around, Darth Vader was truly scary as hell.

The end was both awfully sad and entirely... hopeful. *wink-wink*

The Last Jedi

Poe started the whole thing being his badass, awesome self, so I was immediately hooked. He continued being all of this and more. Give me a minute to ask: how is he so pretty, I don’t even understand anything. I’m just so glad he made it out alive cause I would’ve started shit right then and there if he hadn’t. He also grew as a person, and we got to know him a bit more. Not enough, but I’ll take what I can get.

Seeing Luke so isolated, blaming himself, that was really sad. I wish he and Rey had spent more time together. Much like Rey described it, Luke’s death wasn’t sad, and it looked peaceful... but I think part of it had to do with what had just happened with Finn.

Finn was back, and being lovely and clueless, and a smart hero. I swear to fucking god, I was about to burst into ugly crying when Rose saved the day.

So when Luke died, at first I was wondering if he really had, and then I was just... I don’t know. I guess I had panicked so much because Finn had a lot to do still, and it wasn’t fair for him to die. Whereas maybe Luke had served his purpose and lived his life well enough. Not to say that I’m happy about it, or that I don’t wanna see him, cause I expect to see Mark show up Kenobi-style in the next one!

One Skywalker twin standing. Every scene with Carrie was so hard to watch. I really need Mark there next movie, he has to be.

When Yoda showed up, everyone was in awe. It was a good thing.

Rose was awesome all throughout, but particularly so when she saved Finn, can we keep her?

I really wish Rey hadn’t been so removed from everything and everyone, but I get it, it needed to be like that for the plot to work. I’m glad her parents were not a person we know, after all, we already had a bit of incest, no need for everyone to know everyone. I didn’t enjoy Rey’s connection with Kylo at all, just ewww, no. I hope she learned her lesson there for good and I can’t wait to see her being the Jedi.

I was so mad when I thought the film wanted to redeem Kylo Ren (I say his full villain name cause I hate him and I’m two). Like NO, it wasn’t gonna happen, not ever. I was entirely relieved when they stopped that.

Kylo and Hux acted like children. I laughed.

Laura Dern!!!!!! I was so mad at her for going againt my most beautiful and precious pilot, but she did good at the end.

Chewie was like Steve from Stranger Things with all his adopted ~children, it’s law.

The action was all the time, all around, non-stop. It was crazy good! But also really bad cause the Resistance is barely a thing!

The parallels with our world were not even subtle, and I’m glad because the world is an awful place these day. If at least one person’s gonna come out thinking things through, then that’s a good thing we should all celebrate.

Like I said with Rey, I wish the characters hadn’t been so divided all the time, but the story needed that. However, it was insane that Poe and Rey only really met at the end of this one! (Was that a meet-cute? Cause, like... “I know”?) My guess is that the next one will have less of that and more of everyone together. Or maybe that’s just what I want.

I can’t wait for more!

Happy Birthday!!

@the-rain-shall-fall So...uh...I tried this fic thing that you’re good at. Keyword here is ‘’tried’’. Anyway, I know this is your jam so I thought ‘why not?’ It’s my first time writing a fic thingie so I’m sure there are a lot of mistakes....but anyway happy birthday to the best Vandy ever!! > . < haven’t known you for very long but you make my heart go doki dok//ok nu that was gay but seriously I love you soooooooooooo much I hope you have a super duper special day with all your loved ones <3 alsosorrythissuckssoyoumightwannaneedneweyesafterreading. Edit: Probs should speak about what this is about first? Inspired by a friend’s suggestion, I decided to write something about Seven’s unrequited love for Yoosung. Longing for him was out of the question so Seven tries to cope with it. Well das about it~ ------------------------------------ Ship: yooseven Setting: pre-original story ------------------------------------

                                           Sweet Caramel

It was like a ball of sunshine forcefully made its way into the grimmest, most hopeless and darkest of caves. The obscure cavern’s entrance was sealed by an immense sturdy wall that protected it from curious nearby onlookers. If they wanted to trespass, they would be forced to remain behind the wall. If they tried to break it down, the cavern itself would sometimes fight back. Soon enough, the curious onlookers would leave. No matter how many times they tried to bring down this wall, they would eventually give up—until he came along. His bright smile and innocent eyes managed to cause a crack in that solid wall, it slowly and gradually crumbling without the cavern’s knowledge. It didn’t know what it was like, losing its only powerful barrier that protected it from every single living thing. Now it lays bare, naked and vulnerable in front of a powerful shimmering person. Worst part? The glowing entity was not even aware of what it did—it wasn’t even trying to break down anything; the barrier just naturally melted, along with a certain hacker’s heart. He remembers it just like it was yesterday. Due to Rika needing some help with the party, she borrowed her cousin who was a high school student about to graduate. His name…Yoosung Kim. Seven was asked to add him into RFA and so he did. At first, he didn’t think much of him in the chatroom. He knows Yoosung to be this model student who was in the student committee—a serious person who obviously liked his cousin a bit too clearly. Seven started getting to know him soon enough, before Rika’s sudden death. The kid was innocent, honest, gullible, straight-forward with his actions and words, doesn’t mess around….the exact opposite of him. Yoosung was void of faults; he’s just a harmless boy who doesn’t know what to do in college and loves making coffee. His specialty is cooking omelets, his heart dedicated to a future girlfriend he hasn't met yet, but is frantically looking for that certain special someone. Seven thought that probably –just probably- this kind of person wouldn't mind accepting someone like him, a harmful hacker, so he pushed those thoughts out of the way and focused on his daily work, avoiding a cheerful entity like Yoosung before the two of them end up regretting it. It was harder than anything else. After Rika became no longer part of this world, Yoosung changed a little—from his hair to his grades. No, he also became much…sweeter, though he was always grieving for the loss of an important person, spending most of his time on a game, unable to sleep and study. The blond’s heart hoped for a miracle, and Seven watched him from afar, wishing nothing more than being allowed to be by his side—not as a lover, but at least as a friend. Being friends with a hacker…a dangerous hacker living in obscurity, away from the light of the outer world. However, Yoosung’s light could be compared to that of an entire world’s worth, something that the lonely hacker unfortunately found out on his own, just by chatting with the boy on the messenger that he himself created. Day by day, the redhead began developing a habit of teasing the little blond; the more he pranked him, the more Yoosung would pout and cry. It was a stress-relief at first, but recently Seven has been looking forward to his reactions every time, finding them ‘cute’.  It was dangerous. The hacker would sometimes find himself daydreaming, thinking of ways to tease this little blond boy. His innocent friend’s reactions to the pranks, his ‘angry’ pouting, the way he got so addicted to this game he plays simply to forget about the death of someone he admires. All of this—thinking about Yoosung was more than enough to earn the hacker a verbal beating from his handler, Vanderwood. It happened one time when Seven was way behind work, but still decided to log into the messenger at midnight, hoping Yoosung would be there to chat as this usual time. Indeed, he was there, complaining about LOLOL server maintenance and how he was looking forward to playing in an important event while spamming his crying emojis. Seven chuckled slightly, so Vanderwood wouldn’t hear him laugh. ‘So cute’, he thought as he decided to simply watch the younger man complain instead of signing in and teasing him. Maybe he should comfort him once in a while? No, that’d be out of character…besides, Yoosung is the cutest when pouting and calling ‘Seveeeeeeeen’ and spamming crying and depressed emojis. Just the thought made the hacker’s smile go wide…which Vanderwood noticed. ‘’Wipe that smile off your face and get those hands moving.’’  As the brunet ordered, Seven sighed and placed the phone he used for the messenger aside, his hands typing away until morning without as much of a break. About a month passed. Nothing changed much; Jaehee still overworking herself, Jumin still coming up with (awesome) cat projects that Seven would love to be a part of but is afraid of Jaehee’s angry emoji sticker, Zen getting new roles and learning new selfie angles and Yoosung’s usual awful grades in college which he always complains about but never does anything about it (which is also cute). Nothing changed much, except Seven’s agonizing and confusing feelings for the blond boy with awful grades. Now what was he supposed to do? He’s like a moth that got attracted to a certain bright light, fluttering around it until it gets burned from too much exposure. The world this hacker lived in was no healthy environment for an innocent and gullible young boy like Yoosung. Seven knew that, and yet, in a desperate attempt to redeem himself, he did the exact opposite of what he should be doing and sought Yoosung out. ‘’You asked him out to the movies?!’’ The angry brunet’s voice reverberated in the bunker. ‘’When you’re already way behind schedule, what’s wrong with you? You have a death wish?’’ Seven shifted in his seat, pulling up his knees into the chair and hugged them. ‘’Give me a break, Madam…I didn’t mean to…’’ Oddly enough, this time, Seven was actually telling the truth. The night before he sent the young boy a text message asking him to go out and watch a movie, Seven was extremely…intoxicated—or drowning in PhD Pepper hell. It was the night when the hacker decided to exclude Yoosung out of his life in order not to hurt the both of them, but at the end, he ended up doing the opposite while trying to cope with the unfairness of this situation. ‘’Then fucking fix it. There’s no time for you to mess around.’’  Vanderwood ignored the redhead’s attempts at arguing and went back to folding the laundry. ‘’How many red shirts and jackets do you need, anyway? They all look the same. Also, lay off the racing car underwear, you’re not 12 years old.’’ Seven was drifting closer to the bunker’s exit as quietly and slowly as he could. ‘’My heart is that of a 12 year old, Mary. The only way to live a good life is to be a child, Mary. You wouldn’t understand anyway, Mary. You’re so stuck-up, Mary.’’ Before Vanderwood could throw a hissy fit at him, Seven already flew out of the bunker, heading to the garage where he swiped the keys from the car plate and hopped on his ‘babe’ then made his way to where Yoosung lived. ‘’Vanderwood wouldn’t have so much energy as to chase me all the way here, right? He doesn’t care as long as I finish my work, after all. Saaaaaafe.’’ Soon enough, the hacker found himself in front of Yoosung’s apartment, wondering if the boy would be ready and waiting for him. ‘’As if…he didn’t reply to the text…if not, then that’s the best case scenario.’’ Not knowing whether to knock or just barge in—wait, he should really just knock or else Yoosung would scream his name, pout and maybe cry-- ‘’Yoosung, are! you! ready?’’ The hacker hummed as he picked the locks of the door’s keyhole before barging into the boy’s apartment, revealing a Yoosung with a shirt and….no pants. ‘’Wha--!! Seven!!’’  Ah, there it is, that angry name calling. Perfect. Those fair legs. Perfect. That messy hair. Perfect. Those huge purple orbs with a glint of tears swelling up in the corner of his eyes….perfect. ‘’Go away!! I’m putting my pants on!’’  The perverted hacker blushed, but didn’t turn around to give him privacy. ‘’Does it matter? We’re both dudes~ nice legs, by the way.’’ Seven laughed as Yoosung got flustered and threw a pillow at him, calling his name angrily over and over again. ‘’My fault for being lazy and not getting dressed up in my room…wait, this isn’t my fault. Why did you come in without permission? I’m calling the cops, the cops!!’’  Seven smirked, still trying to look away from the boy’s half-naked body. ‘’….Superman underwear? Really? Ah, I mean, I called for you (lies) but you didn’t answer! So I thought…that….you’d….be….by now…’’  The redhead dramatically fell to the floor and started fake sobbing. ‘’As always I don’t get what you’re saying…you’re even weirder in person. You’re tame during the parties…but what are you doing now? Oh…?’’  It took the boy a while to register Seven’s comment about his underwear, which made him blush profusely. ‘’You…! Yeah, so what, so what??’’  He pouted and retrieved the pants from Seven’s hands who was clutching at it for some reason and put it on, then turned his attention back to the hacker on the floor.  ‘’You’re here for the movies right? I thought you were joking when you asked me to hang out…why all of a sudden?’’  Seven got up and spoke in a serious tone, gazing into Yoosung’s amethyst eyes. ‘’To be honest, I was drunk on PhD Pepper. Before I knew it, my hands started typing you a text message! This could only mean one thing, Yoosung!!’’ ‘’You should quit drinking so much PhD Pepper?’’ ‘’Yes it means my subconscious wanted to hang out with you, Yoosung! There’s no other meaning…it could also be an order from the sky. I can feel it; just thinking about it makes the hair on my arms perk up!! Ahh! Yoosung, you shouldn’t refuse an order from the sky!!’’ ‘’You speak too much, Seven…and what happens if I do?’’  ‘’You’ll anger the gods and then you’ll never get a girlfriend.’’ ‘’What?!’’ ‘’It’s true. The gods shall take away your greatest wish!’’ Yoosung started visibly sweating. Not wanting to stay a forever alone, he decided to sacrifice himself and go out with this weird redhead who was giggling for some reason. The boy frowned but then sighed and picked up his phone, sliding it in his pocket. ‘’Alright alright, let’s go…but I get to choose what we watch!’’ ‘’Nah, we’re watching Interstellar.’’ ‘’Seveeeen!’’ ‘’Fine, you choose.’’ Seven had been grinning all the way to the movies, disregarding Yoosung’s attempts at finding out why he’s got such a stupid look on his face. The both of them took a cab instead of riding Seven’s car so it was left parked somewhere near Yoosung’s apartment. ‘’We’re here, we’re here!’’, exclaimed the overly-excited hacker, who was looking forward to sneaking a few long stares at Yoosung’s face without his knowledge while the blond was focusing on the movie. ‘’What are you getting so excited about…oh! Look!’’  Yoosung glued himself to a poster of the movie he decided they would be watching. It had cartoonish animation, and according to the visuals, it seemed to be a superhero theme. Seven sighed and dragged Yoosung by his hoodie to the snacks stand. ‘’Get us two caramel popcorns, 1 PhD Pepper and 1 carton of chocolate milk. Thanks in advance.’’ He handed him money and pushed him towards the stand then headed to buy two tickets of the weird-looking superhero cartoonish movie. ‘’Who’s gonna buy choco milk?! Seven, you meanie!!’’ Yoosung’s whining was music to the hacker’s ears, who heard him from afar. He chuckled aloud, startling the lady in front of him. After a while, they were both finally seated and were waiting for the movie to start. ‘’Why did you get us the farthest seats from the screen ever…..’’ Yoosung whined. ‘’So no one would see us.’’ ‘’…and why is that? What’ll happen if someone sees us??’’ ‘’Bad things. Remember there’s this organization called Hackers Chasing Hackers…they’re after me, and if they see you with me, they might hold you captive and feed you cafeteria food for 3 meals a day.’’ ‘’What?? Seven!!’’ The commercials were done with and the movie started, grabbing away the blond’s attention from the redhead sitting next to him. ‘’….but then why did you choose to get out…with me of all people….you’re so mean…’’ Yoosung slight kept his whining when the show started, his focus on the street. ‘’Because I like you.’’ He whispered. ‘’What, Seven?’’ ‘’Because I like seeing you complaining.’’ He raised his voice a bit higher. ‘’I knew it, you’re the woooorst…’’ Half an hour in, and Seven couldn’t keep his eyes off of Yoosung. Sometimes the boy would notice eyes on him and turn around, finding nothing then turning his attention back to the movie, giggling at the main character. Seven slowly scooted closer; he wanted to hold his hand, kiss his cheek, kiss those whiny lips, run his tongue over them, make the little blond blush and shiver under him while in public. The hacker sighs; he didn’t even know what the hell this movie was about, he was busy focusing on something else—something beautiful, natural and blinding…like the sun itself. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘’That was amazing! Did you see that kick? It went Paw Pow Bow!!’’ ‘’Yeah, yeah. It was beautiful’’, the hacker exclaimed while smiling at him. ‘’What’re you smiling for?~ anyway, can we go home? I’ve got to…um…study.’’ Seven smirked and pinched the other man’s nose. ‘’Right…then we’ll take separate cabs. Good luck conquering the world of LOLOL.’’ ‘’S-Shut up, I said I’ll study…’’ he mumbles, watching Seven calling a cab for him. ‘’There you go, be safe getting home. I’ll be going now, too~’’ He turns away and waves from behind before hearing the voice he loves so much call back at him. ‘’Seven!..I…had fun today! You’re not as weird as I thought!’’ The boy yelled at him, smiling brightly. Fuck. He wanted to hold him and kiss him in front of all these people passing by, in front of the driver who was still waiting, in front of the whole world to claim him as his own…Maybe he should. Then, when Yoosung rejects him, the hacker can finally move on and focus on what he needs to. With such a decision made on impulse, Seven quietly turned around and walked towards the boy. ‘’Yeah, I had fun too.’’ Yoosung smiled brightly at him. ‘’We should do this again sometime! …could watch your uh…Space movie thing next!’’ Is he trying to make it up to him? How cute. Seven reached for Yoosung’s hands and held them tight to his chest, which gave the boy a confused look on his face. ‘’Uh….Seven…?’’ With a weak smile, Seven leaned forward and brushed his lips over Yoosung’s, and like a man with nothing more to lose, he pressed their lips together, deepening it enough to taste all of Yoosung. His lips were soft and supple, tasting like sweet caramel, a perfect combination, the sweetest thing Seven has ever tasted so far. ‘’Yoosung…’’ The hacker pulled away only slightly enough to moan the boy’s name. His eyes unfocused and full of love, there was only one thing left to do. ‘’I like you, Yoosung…’’ He whispered with all his heart. Seven pushed their lips together once again, lost in the desperation of what’s to come, not wanting to think about the consequences. He could do that once in a while, could he? Though this time, this could be the second hardest decision he made—voluntarily making Yoosung hate him and avoid the living lights of him. ‘’Wha—what are you doing?!’’ Seven was pushed, their lips separated. The warmth is gone, the sweet taste still lingering on the hacker’s twisted lips. He hung his head low, unable to look at the man he loves so dearly…and who just rejected him. ‘’…..’’ Yoosung said nothing, but Seven could hear him sniffling for a while before getting inside the cab, it driving away. The hacker stared at the back of the car for a while, disregarding the curious looks of the people around him. ‘’It’s over…I can go back to my work now…Vanderwood will be relieved…’’ He wanted to break down here and then, but pulled himself together and went back home. He’ll have time to cry and scream all he wants inside his bunker without anyone interrupting him, after all. He had…no one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 months have passed. At first, Yoosung’s absence from the messenger worried all the other members. Even V, who hardly logged in, noticed the blond’s inactivity and voiced his concern. Then the members decided to visit him if he didn’t pick up their calls, but every time they came over, Yoosung would act like nothing happened and serve them tea, saying that he’s been too busy playing LOLOL to really check in. In truth, the blond’s LOLOL hours were extended from usual; he spent much more time on it, sometimes skipping a few days of school in a row. Seven believed this was done in order to avoid ever running into him. It took about a month until Yoosung began logging in like normal again, and as Seven predicted, the blond so obviously avoided him in chat, making up a random excuse and logging out almost instantly when Seven was on. The hacker, on the other hand, took a couple of days off before he could log onto the messenger again, in order not to raise suspicion. He also kept joking around as usual, even when Yoosung logs in and later excuses himself. Having no interaction for almost half a year, Seven felt himself slowly tear up from the inside. His ‘plan’ didn’t quite work; he still held strong feelings for the younger man, feelings that were eating him up and making his life a living hell. When did he become this weak? Was there anything he couldn’t overcome ever since having no choice but to leave what he loved most behind him? Seven somehow knew why…he could still taste the younger man’s sweet caramel lips on his…no matter how many times he tries to get rid of it. ‘’How long are you gonna keep sulking for?’’ Vanderwood uttered, standing behind the hacker as the latter worked his magic and typed away. For a while, nothing could be heard but clicking sounds in the bunker. The brunet sighed when Seven didn’t answer him; he didn’t know what happened between him and the blond boy, but he could guess. All he needed to know was that Seven messed up, anyway. ‘’Answer me when I’m talking to you, agent Seven Zero Seven.’’ ‘’You’re especially grumpy today, Madam.’’ Seven answered in a monotone voice, still not looking away from the screen. ‘’No, you’re being a real pain in the ass, you know that?’’ ‘’What of it?’’ Seven turned his chair around to look at the brunet. ‘’I’ve done nothing but work for 5 months, is that a problem? My attitude is not getting in the way of my duties.’’ Vanderwood groaned and sighed again; Seven right now reminded him very clearly of how the hacker was before receiving a certain letter that contained god-knows-what that made Seven lighten up drastically. Back then, Seven never smiled and only did his job, was secluded from everyone else and never slept, nor joked nor pulled pranks. Is he going back to that time…? ‘’Well, whatever…’’  Vanderwood rubbed the back of his neck and clicked his tongue before leaving the bunker. To tell the truth, he’s been resting a lot more now that Seven is doing his job properly…but still, something felt off. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few weeks passed, and Seven’s appearance in the chatroom diminished greatly. He tried as best as he could to be like how he used to be before, but even that is proving to be difficult as the younger boy kept avoiding him. Of course he would…first, he was asked out by someone he barely knew, then kissed and confessed to by that someone… ‘’That…must have been his first kiss, too.’’ Seven thought, disgusted with himself for feeling both guilty and glad. How much lower can he get? ‘’He’s…here.’’ Seven sighed and threw his phone elsewhere. He had decided to check out the messenger, hoping to crack a joke then get back to work but…Yoosung was there. Should he try to…? In any case, the boy must have left already. A minute later, the hacker checked his phone…but to his surprise, Yoosung didn’t leave but was instead asking why he wasn’t answering him…along with a crying emoji. Seven’s heart was beating fast and his fingers shaking tremendously; when was the last time they had an ounce of contact with each other? ‘’Yoosung…’’ <Seven O Seven is here! Did someone call for help??> <This handsome defender of justice is~ at~ your~ service!!~> His shaky hands stopped typing, hoping this was enough…what, or rather, how should he deal with this? As soon as he thought that, Yoosung left the chatroom. Seven fell to his knees, feeling weak. Did he make a mistake…was Yoosung not looking for him but someone else? His eyes weren’t showing him what his heart wanted, were they? A few minutes passed and then Seven heard his phone ring. He thought it was his boss calling him in for another load of work but his eyes widened as he saw the name on the screen. ‘’Yoosung….?’’ No way, did the boy press the wrong button? If he didn’t, then that means Seven will have a chance to hear that voice again…the voice that calls out his name ever so soothingly…He took a deep breath to calm himself before picking out his phone and pressing the green button, hoping the younger boy won’t hang up. To be honest, simply hearing his voice would do. It’d make his life less of a living hell for a while. He was looking forward to even hearing his breathing through the phone, just the fact that are in contact with one another is fine, anything is fine…Didn’t the hacker want to be avoided…? Isn’t that why he messed everything up? So why….why, why, why? Why did Yoosung call? With sweaty hands and a quick beating heart, Seven let out his trembling voice. ‘’H-Hello…?’’   [End]

Realtalk: Beauty and the Beast

((Spoilers: DUH))

Okay, but jokes about bad CGI wolves aside, Disney’s latest live action remake just served to remind me what didn’t work in the last few films. Keep in mind this is all my opinion and you don’t have to agree to any of it.

I could appreciate the effort they took in better explaining the lore. The classic film implied Beast could be as young as 11 when the curse took effect for them to be wasting away for “ten years” (as stated in the original Be Our Guest), and a lot of people were left puzzling as to how exactly an entire town failed to notice the ominous castle sitting on their outskirts for all those years. But as with all the other remakes Disney also attempted to flesh out the characters, usually in the form of a heavy backstory, and this is where they always seem to fall flat for me.

This is the main problem I have with live action: they seem to struggle in deciding which tone they want to run with. Do they want to prove they can play with darker and more sombre themes? Those poignant backstories and frequent deaths in the families would suggest so. But then they turn right around and try to emulate the cartoon almost frame for frame. Suddenly the action sequences, one-liners, and visual gags look too hammy and out of place, especially when juxtaposed with the aforementioned Dark Subjects. This isn’t helped by the uncanny valley characters at all.

I’m sure some kids out there find all of this enjoyable and see no problem with the new films (though personally if I saw that CG Lumiere as a child I would have run screaming out of the theatre), but all I could think as I watched Beast tear through the tower pining and singing his heart out was:

“Holy shit Disney, you should remake Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Think about it: they could play with dark themes all they wanted and it wouldn’t feel out of place at all. The animated film was already one of Disney’s heaviest, in fact I feel it’s been swept under the rug as a result of its heavier tone. The characters themselves are some of Disney’s most subdued and wouldn’t be terribly difficult to translate into live action without changing too much, and they could go nuts with the special effects and locations all they want because it’s got everything.

Medieval city? Check. Tall, ominous towers? Check. Spectacular views for breaking out into song? Check. Political/social commentary still relevant today? Check. Vibrant/fictional locales to pour their CGI budget into? Check. They’ve got one of the best villains in that movie, whether you love to hate him or just ... love ... him ... if you’re one of those weirdos.

But that brings up another point: if they did rework it, I want them to go really dark with it. I’m talking taking cues from their friends in Germany and Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, a musical that managed to preserve a majority of the film while also capturing the weight of the original novel.

Don’t try to redeem Frollo like you did with Maleficent. Preserve all the slimy, misguided, despicable facets of his personality. Don’t gloss over the political commentary of gypsies in Paris, and highlight Clopin’s juxtaposed sides as a result--willing to do whatever it takes to survive even if it means stealing and murdering. We already have one of the most badass women out there in Esmeralda, and finally one who isn’t a damned princess that needs her sparkly dress. Give Phoebus a bigger role, give us time to really see the conflict between his role in society and his moral compass. Focus on Quasimodo’s internal struggle, torn between his curiosity and love for the outside world, but also his blind loyalty and affection to the one man who raised him his entire life.

And for f**k’s sake those gargoyles better be hallucinations to illustrate the toll a lifetime of solitude has taken on the poor guy or I am going to flip some heavy Medieval tables.

And finally Esmeralda dies. No-one gets the girl. Phoebus fails at his job, people get hurt as a result, and he can’t even save the love of his life. And Quasimodo is left utterly broken hearted and alone, with neither his father figure or his friends by his side. The movie ends as the stage play did: with our hunchback carrying the gyspy in his arms in a sad nod to the iconic “Sanctuary!” scene, walking away into the dark unknown, presumably to die as he did in the novel, with Esmeralda in his arms. A sombre Clopin, knocked back down to a beggar (if not dead as well during the seige), narrates the closing scene.

Because life sucks and that’s what you get for attempting to turn a Victor Hugo Novel into anything less than a tragedy.

TL;DR: Disney remake HoND. I double-dog-dare you.

(Oh my god I have not drawn these guys in literal ages. It felt so weird!)

Episode 92: Atlantis SquarePantis

“♪~ Good-bye, Atlantis. We're Bikini Bottom bound. There's no place like home! ~♪”

Synopsis: SpongeBob and friends take a trip to Atlantis, a lost city with all of their desires, but encounter some trouble when they destroy their most prized possession. Meanwhile, Patchy gets lost in the desert when his home town goes missing.

Well, everybody, here we are: review number one-hundred. When I first created this blog, I decided I’d tackle one of the movies every hundred episodes or so, including the two TV movies. Since TV movies are considerably smaller than regular movies, I figured this would be the first one I’d take on. Now before we dive in, I must say something about this episode: it is notoriously known as being one of the worst SpongeBob episodes of all time. Frequently criticized for its several musical numbers, meandering plot line, and so on and so forth. When watching this episode, I ultimately had to take into account a neutral perspective when reviewing this episode. Listen, in the past, I feel as though something I’ve done wrong is expecting an episode to be good or bad before viewing, and ultimately I feel that might make my reviews of said episodes a bit more biased. “Atlantis SquarePantis” is an episode I haven’t seen in ages, and really, I couldn’t really trust past judgement of the episode from myself. I am aware that this episode is widely considered to be bad, yes, but ultimately, I have had a few unpopular opinions in the past; might review “Stanley S. SquarePants” in the near future as an example. But nonetheless, let’s discuss my opinions on “Atlantis SquarePantis.”

SUMMARY:

While I did go into this episode with a neutral perspective, the honest truth is simply... yeah, it isn’t very good. I could just end the review there, but listen, is that really what you want to see out of a one-hundredth review? Nah. However, before I go on and give actual opinions, let’s get all the little nitpicks that people blow up way too much out of the way.

“This episode is a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ripoff!” Listen, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of those stock plots that so many cartoons rely on from time to time. This episode is no less a rip-off of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory than say, “Squidtastic Voyage” is to Fantastic Voyage. I might take off a few points for using a stock-plot for the show’s first TV movie, but frankly trying to consider it a rip-off is a pretty lame argument about this episode.

“Why doesn’t David Bowie get a musical number?” Listen, I’m gonna get it out of the way: David Bowie was a pretty terrible person, if my memory serves right. However, once again, while I will take points off for hiring a famous musician in a musical episode and not having him sing, it’s frankly the least of my concerns. When watching this episode, really I wasn’t wondering so much “When will LRH get a musical number?” because the musical numbers aren’t really what I’m watching this episode for. Of course, musical numbers can help episodes go from being good to great, like “Band Geeks” and the recent “Mimic Madness,” but as a whole, they aren’t anything that concerns me much in an episode.

And while there are far too many songs, I mostly had a neutral opinion on them. They’re nothing I’d seek down and listen to, but it wasn’t like “Oh dear Neptune just let it end” whenever I heard one. They’re pretty middle-of-the-road SpongeBob songs that ultimately don’t really bother me all that much.

While all those things are kinda bad, they ultimately don’t contribute much to my overall opinion of the episode. If there’s really a big issue I have with this episode, it’s how little really happens for the time it’s worth. Many of the issues this episode has can be seen in my reviews for an episode like “The Cent of Money” or “The Clash of Triton.” However, I do feel “Atlantis SquarePantis” is a little above those episodes.

For reference, in “Atlantis SquarePantis,” SpongeBob and Patrick are enjoying a nice day blowing bubbles, when they are disappointed with how briefly they last. SpongeBob decides to attempt blowing a long-lasting bubble, but it ends up carrying him and Patrick to a cave, where they find half of the Amulet of Atlantis. They go to the museum, where they find Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Sandy, who all talk about their dreams in the lost city. Seeing the lost half of the Amulet of Atlantis, they manage to re-join it, and fly through a song-filled bus to the lost city, where everyone gets lost in their desires. SpongeBob and Patrick find the oldest-living bubble and get freaked out when they accidentally pop it, but ultimately it doesn’t mean much because it’s not even the real bubble; but then they do pop the real bubble and kinda piss off the Atlantian guards, and Plankton has a kinda shoehorned in plot about getting Atlantian weapons for unknown purposes. They fly home, missing Atlantis, and yadda-yadda. This plot would be fine for an episode anywhere between eleven and twenty minutes; probably working best as one of those half-specials, along the lines of “Back to the Past” and “Shanghaied.” And ultimately, that’s really the episode’s biggest fault: it just feels... padded out. It feels like an episode that was intended to be much shorter, but was extended just so the show could have a TV movie or get higher ratings or something.

Patchy also gets a subplot that’s equally as uninteresting. Patchy gets stuck in traffic waiting for the new SpongeBob, but ends up realizing his home town of Encino, California has disappeared somehow. Patchy gets stranded in the desert, looking for Encino, only to have weird hallucinations, feed a sandwich to a vulture, and eventually discover the town was shrunken by Space Aliens. Part of me wants to give the highlight of the episode to the weird live-action SpongeBob costumes, but it’s more funny in a “what-the-heck” kind of way than in an actually, legitimately funny way.

What puts “Atlantis SquarePantis” above other similarly boring episodes is that while, yes, the plot is pretty meandering and pointless, it at least enjoys a bit of fun with the medium. A few different animation styles appear in this episode, and while the one in Mr. Krabs’s song feels kinda cheap, and the one in Squidward’s doesn’t make nearly the use of the different paintings it should, it still is a nice change of pace for the series. I actually do really like the art style in Sandy’s song, which kind of takes an ol’ 16-bit SNES look to it, with some surprisingly fluid animation. Might just be personal tastes, though.

The biggest issue with the episode is that it really goes nowhere. Everything ultimately just leads to another anticlimax, but not even really a funny one. So SpongeBob and Patrick popped the bubble, but surprise it wasn’t the real one. Plankton gets advanced weaponry but nope it just fires ice cream. Ultimately, each time it feels a conflict is about to build up, it just kinda ends with some dull anticlimax. An episode with low stakes can occasionally work on, perhaps, an eleven minute-or-shorter level, like “Patrick! The Game.” However, when aiming to create a TV movie, ultimately, having an episode with as little climax as this one ultimately just feels boring. I do not recommend “Atlantis SquarePantis,” no, but admittedly, I don’t really feel that that mad at it. It feels like just a generic kinda dull SpongeBob episode with a lot of padding. None of the padding is really grating or obnoxious, just dull. “Atlantis SquarePantis” is an episode that I can’t really think of much reason to hate with all my heart. Yeah, it’s bad, and pretty dang bad at that, but it doesn’t give much reason for seething hatred. Once it’s over, it’s over, and well, there’s nothing you’re really feeling aside from “did I really just spend forty minutes on that?”

RECAP:

THE GOOD:

“Atlantis SquarePantis’s” biggest strength is that it does manage to have some interesting formats that wouldn’t be shown in your average episode. It’s one of the few things that could make this episode feel “special” when compared to others.

I’ll hand this episode that it did get a handful of laughs out of me, particularly the “I Hate Mondays” gag, but nothing too fantastic.

THE BAD:

The songs, while nothing abominable, are pretty forgettable, and definitely have those rhymes which just feel... forced. You know, the melons with edible rinds, the looking great on the side of a van, etc.

The plot really just meanders a lot. For a 40-minute long episode, it ultimately did nothing that a 22 or even 11-minute long episode couldn’t cover.

Plankton’s side-plot is entirely unnecessary.

This episode hardly has any climax. There’s a kinda neat fight sequence with Sandy and the Atlantians, but it’s so brief that in the grand scheme of things, it may as well be just a little more filler, since even it hardly leads anywhere in the end.

VERDICT:

I’m sorry to say, but this one-hundredth review is probably going to be as anti-climactic as the episode it is for. I was expecting something I could tear to shreds, or really just despise with every inch of my being, but ultimately... I couldn’t think of too much to say. There are many small things that are wrong here, but none of them are really wrong enough to fill my heart with rage or anything of that sort. It’s just dull, and forgettable. Really, the only question I should be asking is why watch this when there are multitudes of eleven minute episodes that tell better stories with more humor? Throw together “Married to Money,” “Life Insurance,” “Kracked Krabs,” and “Krusty Krushers” and you’d probably have a more worth-while forty minutes than watching this episode. Really, this is one that is difficult to give a final score to. It’s bad? Yeah. And frankly, it doesn’t really have major redeeming qualities. Ultimately, though I just can’t gather up the anger to rate it anything lower than...

FINAL SCORE: 3/10

Worse than the average 3/10 episode, but ultimately, it was just another boring, inoffensive episode of SpongeBob. A 3/10 is what I’d rate another episode of that sort, and TV movies aren’t held to any other standards. I’d definitely avoid this episode, it hardly does anything in the forty minutes it lasts, but that “hardly anything” can be said for both the good and bad.

THE SIDE-NOTES:

While it did get the same score as “What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?,” how it got the score was in a very different way. While “What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?” had a somewhat compelling story, the humor was lacking, and the episode just felt a tad too depressing to really enjoy. “Atlantis SquarePantis” achieves the score on sheer account of just doing nothing that I can really appreciate, while having nothing loathesome to really rant against.

I guess this still lines up with my “every ten episodes review something infamous” rule.

Time to count down to my review of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie! Only 100 more reviews to go!

So Atlantis has outgrown the needs for currency and warfare? Heck, they just need to ditch the monarchy and I’d be packing my bags and heading straight for that town.

Just getting back to reviewing run-of-the-mill episodes will feel so weird now. It’s like, “Hey! Here’s a review of a TV movie! And now here’s a review of uh... ‘Wishing You Well.’”

Yeah I’m gonna review “Wishing You Well” next. I got a request for it a couple months back so... yeah let’s do that.

<<PREVIOUS REVIEW: MARRIED TO MONEY NEXT REVIEW: WISHING YOU WELL>>

1, 9, 13, 15, 21?

It’s really hard for me to keep a running most/least etc list in my head at all times because I’m so scatterbrained, so I’m just going to answer these with the first movie that pops into my head given the prompt, I hope that’s ok!

1. What’s the Most Depressing Movie You’ve Ever Watched?

The Movie that comes to mind first is Fried Green Tomatoes, because a) dead lesbians, and B) I think it was the first movie I ever watched that made me full out sob. The book is even worse because it has cannon lesbianism and focuses more on the two main character’s relationship.

Watership Down, is also fairly depressing for a movie about bunnies, even as a metaphor for, idk, totalitarianism and what have you. 

The Sleepers was…It got so bad. Like, legitimately traumatizing depending on your age and certain triggers you may have, It made me look at Kevin Bacon in a completely different way, and I can never fully trust any character in a role he plays because of this movie.

The Last Airbender, a movie that Totally Does Not Exist is depressing for….so, so many reasons, none of which have to do with plot, aside from its own failings. And isn’t that the most depressing thing of all.

Special mention goes to any movie set in America in the1910s-20s era that has a happy ending. I can never bring myself to enjoy them 100% under the looming threat of the eventual great depression. 

—-

9. The Most Aesthetically Pleasing Movie You’ve Ever Watched?

The animation, art direction, and overall style of Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion, in keeping with the series it’s based on, is gorgeous. 

Also, The Thief and The Cobbler, while not a great movie (or even a particularly good one really), is very artistically pleasing. 

For live action, Pan’s Labyrinth is pretty awesome, in the traditional sense of the word. 

The Adams Family movie is pretty fucking great in the set design department. 

While there are many things wrong with the 2005 Phantom of the Opera Movie; aesthetically, I enjoyed all of it.  

Far From Heaven is also pretty aesthetically pleasing, in terms of color and throwback style. 

A lot of Bollywood musicals are so on point in this department that they deserve a mention, my favorite Bollywood movie probably being Om Shanti Om. 

Also, one of my favorite childhood movies growing up- A Little Princess -looking back, is pretty aesthetically pleasing too. 

Wow, there were a lot this time around, haha.

—–

13. Your Favorite Comedy Film?

Why would you do this to me, this is impossible.

I am however very partial to Clue, since it combines some of my favorite types of comedy: Dark Humor, Witty Dialogue, and Slapstick.

Muriel’s Wedding, if it counts as a comedy, which I think it does, is a movie that has a very secure place in my heart.

I will go to my grave defending The Road to El Dorado and it’s comedy, which holds up to this day, as well as Emperor’s New Groove.

Ultimate Problematic Faves Include Drop Dead Gorgeous, bc although a lot of the comedy still holds up, some of it is now inexcusable like holy shit. And My Cousin Vinnie. 

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is and always will be a classic. In fact file that under the aesthetically pleasing column too while we’re at it.  I fucking Love that movie.

—-

15. A Movie The Everyone Else Loves that You Hate?

I’m usually pretty laid-back about movies, and I still don’t like super hate it or anything, but Brokeback Mountain was so boooooooring. I still cried at the end, bc i still like felt for the dude, but I was also glad it was over.

Silence of the Lambs is a classic I’m sure, and again i don’t really hate it, but it could not hold my interest. it was well put together though.

A Clockwork Orange feels like a it should be a warning tale (like it was originally supposed to be), but it’s one that ends with the bad guy getting the opposite of his due comeuppance (which I know is a different ending than the book) so it looses all meaning, and as such reads like two hours of gratuitous physical and sexual violence with no real purpose, all told in an accent and with such an idiosyncratic speech pattern that is too difficult for me to make even the effort to ever parse again, given what it turned out to be. The film making itself was fine, and the acting was good too, but i still hate this movie.  

Also, I know this makes me a monster but, Bambi was like an hour and a half of boring fluff with a singular, non redeeming trauma in the middle.

—-

21. A Film with An Amazing Sountrack?

I’m gonna assume we’re excluding musicals from this, or I would be here all day.

Guardians of the Galaxy (1 & 2) were both amazing, especially within the context of the films themselves

Labyrinth bc Bowie, obviously

Muriel’s Wedding again, because I’m a sucker for ABBA

O Brother, Where Art Thou, Which is a soundtrack I have owned since high school when I first saw it. 

Interview With a Vampire, which is a soundtrack I have had since I stole it from my Mom in high school, haha. Though I have mixed feelings on the movie Itself. I don’t hate it at all, but I can only watch it about once a year.

The How to Train Your Dragon Soundtrack has some really great Instrumental pieces and a pretty sweet Icelandic pop number at the end too.

And finally, I know It’s not a film but the Bob’s Burger’s Soundtrack is awesome and I am happy that I bought it!

—-

Thank you for the questions!~ as always I enjoyed answering them. Even if I am the most indecisive person I know when it comes to stuff like this, haha. ^_^  

Thoughts on Runaway Locomon

Just when you think you’re done with a Digimon series, there’s always some sort of extra content to extend the universe. Movies, drama CDs, even stage plays and video games. Digimon Tamers got a second movie, so now it’s time to actually finish talking about this series because as much as I love it, I’m ready to just sit back and reminisce on just what made it so good.

So I really liked Battle of Adventurers, what about Runaway Locomon?

Remember how I said I felt the ending to Digimon Tamers was weaker by having a quick, sudden farewell only to have an even quicker resolution of having a portal back to the Digital World all in the last episode? Well, having watched this movie almost immediately after finishing the show, those impressions weren't exactly improved; worsened in fact, already showing the Tamers with their Digimon living life normally as if their farewells had almost never happened. This isn't one of those things where you could place the timing of the movie before the ending, as it has elements like Jeri being perfectly fine, has the Matrix Digivolutions and Gallantmon Crimson Mode and is stated to take place six months after the events of the series' ending. This isn't me saying I didn't want my happy Digimon Tamers ending, but to have such a heart-wrenching ending only to watch everything be just fine right after kind of dampers on said ending. It didn't really anger me, but it was enough to stick out and bother me a little.

However, this was before I learned this movie isn't even canon and that Chiaki Konno--the main series writer--didn't even have any involvement with this movie. Supposedly, the drama CD I had mentioned in my last post is considered to be the canon continuation of Tamers. But I have still since not listened to that, so I have no current opinion on it. But with this new information, I feel more comfortable stating my opinion on this film than I would have before, seeing it now as a sort of alternate universe than a continuation of where this show left off.

But at the same time, I can say that my opinion of this movie, for the most part, has not changed other than the last details I mentioned. The movie on its own is... okay. It's not really bad, but it's not anything great or spectacular like you would expect either. It's just okay. It's basically best to see this film not as a movie, but more like an additional special episode. But even then, it's not really that special. It's one of those things that just exists. It's kind of like the Digimon team looked back on Tamers, said "Boy, wouldn't it be great to work on more Tamers?", consulted Toei, and they shrugged and threw a couple thousand yen at them and said "Go nuts."

The movie isn't without its redeeming qualities, but it's sort of hit or miss in some areas. One of those elements would be its animation--It's pretty basic at best, but I do like small things like it's nice shading style and the pastel feel of it. But it's definitely no Our War Game! or even Battle of Adventurers. Even worse though, Runaway Locomon doesn't just reuse animation for things like the Digivolutions and even the opening of all things, but it letterboxes them too, and they look really bad. Faces, body parts or even text get cut off and it's extremely distracting when you've seen the original animations enough times. In comparison, Our War Game! didn't significantly crop the original shots, but they also even completely redid them to fit with Mamoru Hosoda's animation style and found small little workarounds. I would call this a nitpick, but it really shows just how low-budget this "film" is in comparison and how it lacks a sense of professionalism. I don't expect them to give every movie the Our War Game! treatment, but I expect a little more polish than just reusing and heavily cropping some otherwise good animation. There are some moments where the animation flows well and moves rapidly to fit the action as well as some good shots (like one of Takato and Guilmon jumping off Locomon to Matrix Digivolve to Gallantmon), but there's also some rather... gruesome moments, like with Gallantmon stabbing a Parasimon right in the eyeball. It's that kind of morbid imagery I would expect from Konno's works, yet he somehow has no involvement in it.

When I said this movie isn't special though, that probably shows the most in the plot and premise. Again, they're not bad, but it's nothing really unique enough to be a movie rather than just an episode, especially since the movie itself is only 30 minutes long. The plot is exactly what it says on the tin--a Digimon called Locomon is running wild on train tracks and threatens to crash and cause massive damage in Shinjuku. The Tamers and their Digimon find themselves having to stop it. On top of this, there's a subplot of the Tamers throwing a surprise birthday party for Rika, though Rika ends up being controlled by one of the Parisamon also controlling the Locomon. While under this control, Rika has a sort of vision/flashback of singing a song for her dad. This is interesting in that we never see Rika's father in the show at all, but he remains silhouetted and we never see what he looks like or what his personality may have been like. The best there is to speculate out of it is that she may have been a "Daddy's Girl" type and had a close relationship with her father that was severed by her parents' divorce, but again, there's no details on this. Thankfully for Rika though, the Tamers manage to snap her out of this control and she gets to join the fight.

This is honestly about as much depth as the plot has, mostly focusing on stopping the Locomon and the Parisamon that begin to invade Shinjuku. On a good note, each character gets a role or a couple of minutes of screentime. Even minor characters like Kazu, Kenta and Suzie with their Digimon (which means more MarineAngemon gibberish!) get some moments to shine including everyone's favorite character Ryo. We also do get some fun with the Matrix Digivolutions, who do make for some good action scenes. Even Beelzemon Blast Mode gets some screentime along with some Yamaki being a badass just doing what he wants. But in addition to all of these nice character inclusions, to my delight Gallantmon Crimson Mode gets a fair amount of screentime to wreck everything and we all know he's the best Mega ever. But the movie is also really weird because it doesn’t really end properly, it just... kind of stops.

I will say, something I really didn't notice until after watching the movie was that, despite being as okay as it is, has a super grooving soundtrack. It's a really nice collection of great smooth jazz that I really can't help but enjoy listening to. While the Digimon Tamers soundtrack is pretty jazz-y in general, Runaway Locomon takes it up to 11. Dub watchers unfortunately miss out on this bonus since pretty much all of the Digimon dubs liked removing the original soundtracks for some reason, which is a shame. Honestly, I might say the soundtrack is my favorite part of this movie other than the occasional bits of fanservice. Seriously, even if you don't watch this movie, I'd highly recommend sitting down, putting on your headphones on and giving the soundtrack a conscious listen.

I can't help but feel like I didn't cover this movie enough, but... there really isn't much else to say about it. Overall, Runaway Locomon is an okay film, though it's better to think of it as a bonus what-if episode more than anything. If you look at it as that, it's a good source of entertainment for 30 minutes if you love Digimon Tamers. It's by no means flawless and it is lower on the list of Digimon movies, but it's still fun to watch and still above the weird acid trip we know as Hurricane Landing!!/Transcendent Evolution!!. It's definitely not a total waste of Digimon material though, so give it a watch if you're craving some Tamers or just some Digimon.

As I find myself reflecting back on Digimon Tamers, it still is a really fun, great Digimon series with a surprising amount of depth, wonderful storytelling and awesome action. And in the end, I can really appreciate it for that, flaws and all. I'm sure there's more Digimon content with some good ideas to offer... Which is why now I'm going to be forced against my will to give Digimon Frontier a chance!