The Pilgrim

Over the Garden Wall has turned into my Halloween show. When I last watched it, I realized something. That's not surprising. OTGW is packed full of hidden details. I watched a couple of those "What you missed in OTGW" videos and while I learned a lot, I've never seen this topic covered.

Spoilers

In the episode at the spooky tavern, they introduce everyone by their profession. Butcher, Baker, Midwife, etc. They ask Wirt what he is, but Wirt says that he doesn't like labels. I think Wirt just doesn't know how to identify himself.  That's why he thinks everyone at school  doesn't like him. He has no self-confidence because he doesn't know who he is. When the people at the inn come up with a "label" for Wirt, he's very proud of it. It finally gives him that sense of identity he was missing.

 

Also, it bugged me that the tavern-keeper's song had so much important information. I hate it when songs have essential information that isn't mentioned anywhere else. It's hard to understand and absorb an entire song the first time you hear it. In this case, the song says that the Beast wants to turn people into a tree to use for lantern fuel. I totally missed that, which diminished the impact of the finale (I had this same problem with Frozen 2 - "not too far or you'll be drowned." That was incredibly important, but it was buried in a song so I never got it during the first viewing). 

But there is something else buried in this song which was important for Wirt. The tavern keeper says "don't believe his lies." When Wirt faces the Beast in the last episode, he's about to let the Beast put his brother's soul in the lantern. But Wirt very abruptly stops and changes his mind. He realized that the Beast was lying. If he didn't discover that (presumably from the tavern-keepers hint) he would have been trapped there forever. And Greg would have turned into a tree.

Honest Villains

Most villains seem to be liars. 

Some of them will say anything to get you to do what they want. Like the Chamberlain, in The Dark Crystal. 

And some of them lie about who they are to get what they want (surprise villains, like in Zootopia, or Coco).

 

 But there are also honest villains. 

You have Captain Hook, from the Disney Peter Pan. He prides himself on never breaking a promise. But he also twists those promises to trick you. For example, he says he won't lay a finger or a hook on Peter Pan. So instead he tries to blow him up. 

Then there's the blunt honest villains. Like Peridot. It doesn't even occur to her to lie. She's all about logic, which is why she's dangerous at first-she doesn't value anything beyond her leaders and her assignment. 

People have to remind Peridot if they want her to lie. And when she does, it's not convincing. "I do not steal Steven's clothes when he's not looking!"

Scarlemagne is a different type of honest villain. He doesn't need to lie. He has enough power that he pretty much gets whatever he wants. And if he wants information, he can just mind control you and make you tell. No lying needed. 

 

He also keeps his promise later on, when we're not sure whether or not he can be trusted. Well, mostly. 

"You promised Kipo no mind control."

"Oh, was that supposed to be forever?"

Fictional BFFs

I used to think it was really weird that people would have crushes on fictional characters. After all, fictional characters don't actually exist. 

It took a while before I realized that it's actually very common. I'm just weird because I'm not particularly romantic. 

 I'm also a hypocrite. Because while I don't have crushes on fictional characters, I totally want to be best friends with some of them XD  

 For example:

BFFs: Hector and Miguel (Coco - Thougb Hector is a major pain to all of his friends, until he's reunited with his family)
 

BFF: Nightcrawler (X-Men)

BFF: Connie (Steven Universe - she has more in common with me than any other fictional character I know)

BFFs: The Doctor and Donna (Doctor Who - this version of the Doctor in particular)

BFF: Yellow (Pokemon Adventures)

BFF: Kurama (Yuyu Hakusho)

Hiro Nakamura, from the Heroes TV show. I only watched the first two seasons, because it got way too convoluted. But I loved Hiro. If I were to watch anymore, it would be just to see him.

BFF

...Okay, maybe not at this point in his life.

(Also, he never gets much of a chance to like any humans beyond a handful of them)

It occurs to me that most of these guys aren't normal humans. One guy is... dead. One is blue with a tail. One is an alien with two hearts. One is a fox spirit. 

Which makes sense for me, I guess. 

 

 Then you have characters like Kipo, who would make friends with anyone (As Scarlemagne puts it, "that girl would find a reason to befriend a broom" ). So I'm not sure if it counts to put her on this list.

Also, it's important to note that many of my favorite characters are not on this list. For example, Garnet from Steven Universe is my favorite female character. But she's also not a people person. There are only two humans she interacts with on any sort of regular basis, and that's just because those humans are important to Steven (Greg and Connie). So as much as I love her character, I doubt she'd be interested in hanging out with me. (Scarlemagne actually fits this too. I just wanted to tease that I'd be a BFF with a crazy mind-controlling monkey).

And then there are characters like Tamaki, from Ouran High School Host Club. I love his character. But if he ever went "host mode" around me, I would freak the hell out. 

So yeah. All of the above characters are characters I think I would get along with. I like all of them, but there are also characters I love that are not here.

Which Fantasy World Would You Live In?

I just saw a post that asked which fantasy world you would rather live in: Pokémon or Zelda. 

I quickly decided Pokémon. Why? Because the Zelda worlds always seem torn by war! Look at Breath of the Wild! Everything is in ruins, and no one can travel anywhere without fear of getting attacked. Those guardians are utterly terrifying. Not to mention lynels and other things. Don't get me wrong. Breath of the Wild is a fantastic game. But I would never want to live there. 

In contrast, in the Pokémon world you can raise, befriend, and train very powerful and sentient creatures. There may be some dangerous things, but you  have a team of powerful Pokémon on your side to protect you. 

Of course you could make this question even more interesting by opening it up to other fantasy worlds. Which one would you want to live in? There seem to be infinite options. 

It's not just the danger and the magical creatures you need to consider. It's also the people and their society. For example, the humans in Steven Universe are remarkably accepting of anyone "different." Most of the fantasy worlds I've read in books are not that way. It seems like almost all of them have societies that are sexist, or racist, or something else.

If I were to live in a fantasy world, the choice is easy. It's also kind of cheating. I'd want to live in the world of my stories. Because I design my worlds specifically to be a place I want to live XD

Fern Tales

I don't usually write out Fern's stories. They mostly exist as notes, and a few comics and pictures.  

But lately there have been a few Fern stories that I've wanted to write. Like the Coco one I mentioned a while ago. I think it's because they're character interactions - not so much actions. The actions I can record pretty accurately as notes. But the interactions feel like they'll slip out of my mind if I don't write them down. They're more involved and detailed.

Anyway, I just wrote a new Fern one. Since no one else will ever see it, I don't have to polish it up. Which is refreshing. I've been editing the hell out of Evva's story, so it's fun to write something more chill.

Peachick (baby peacock)

Tear-Jerkers

There are a few movies that make me cry. But after i've watched them so many times, they no longer get that effect from me. 

When I saw the musical version of Les Miserables in the theater, I heard more crying than I'd ever heard before. It made me cry for the first several views. 

Then I stopped, I guess because I'd become desensitized to the scene. 

The same thing happened with Coco. I used to cry during the two "Remember Me" scenes. But I guess I've just seen it too many times. 

 

At least that's what I thought. 

I watched Les Mis several times when it came out, largely so I could hear the music. But then I didn't watch it for a while. When I watched it a few days ago, the ending made me cry again. So I guess when I've gotten enough space from a movie, it gets me again? Or maybe the pandemic has just made me more emotional. 

I'm about to rewatch Coco too. I haven't seen that in a while either, so I'll see if it gets me this time around.

 

So, those are the emotional scenes. But sometimes I start crying randomly during animal movies, not because of what's happening on screen but because of what it makes me think of. For example, Bambi, or a movie called Two Brothers (about tigers). I start thinking of how awful humans are to animals. Like the hunters in Bambi, or about how tigers are disappearing because people think their bones and stuff are magic.

The latest thing that has me crying is from the first category - it's just super emotional. I've already mentioned it: The ending of "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts." I've seen it a couple times. I cried even harder the second time. 

I wonder if I'll stop crying if I see it too much. TT^TT

Lately when I've gotten excited about a new show/movie, I haven't found anyone to be excited with. 

For example:

Coco

 

Steven Universe the Movie

 

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. 

 

I have friends that have seen them, but they aren't as excited about them as me. So I try to hold myself back (at least some, though that was very hard to do with Coco. I wanted to gush about that movie to everyone XD ).

Hmmm. Maybe that pent-up energy explodes. @_@

Lord of the Flies

Okay, we had to read Lord of the Flies in high school. I loathed it. 

Then someone told me that Lord of the Flies would only work with privileged white males. And a switch flipped in my brain:"Oh, that makes so much more sense now!" 

I still don't want to read it again, but now I find it a little funny.

And here's a grizzly bear XD

Jurassic Park Revisited

My work partner recently rented out a theater. Some places will let you rent out a room for $100, and they let in a set amount of people. So a bunch of us pitched in for the fee, and spread out through the theater to watch Jurassic Park. 

I don't think I've ever seen it on a big screen, so that was fun. And since we all knew each other, we could shout out random comments every now and then. Let me tell you, watching Jurassic Park with a bunch of zoo keepers is pretty hilarious. 

 Okay, this seems off-topic, but it will link in. At the zoo, you get jerks that shout at the animals or pound on the glass. So we have to tell those people to leave the freaking animals in peace. There's a scene in the movie where Dr. Grant and the kids are sleeping at the top of a tree. In the morning, brachiosaurs appear all around them. Dr. Grant makes a bellowing noise to call them over. I shouted, "Sir, please don't call out to the animals!" And everyone started laughing. 

You know something odd that never occurred to me until this last viewing? Jurassic Park is supposed to be a scary movie. Except I've never really considered it that scary. I always just liked watching the dinosaurs. Probably the scariest scene is the kitchen scene, with the velociraptors. It may be because I've seen it so often that I know exactly what happens. But I think this is a more likely explanation: The predators are carnivores. They eat meat and they hunt. It's just what they do. It's not a horror plot - it's just part of nature. Though nature can be pretty crazy sometimes. 

For the movies I grew up with, they have become so much a part of my past that I don't even really think about them when I watch them. This is also because i usually draw or sew or something when I'm watching them. When I do watch one of those old movies with my full attention, sometimes things pop out at me that I never noticed before. 

Example 1: The relationship between Alan Grant and the kids. 

It's obvious from the beginning that Alan  is not a kid person. But this time I really noticed how much Alan, Lex, and Tim bonded. Lex and Tim needed someone to look after them during horrible circumstances. Alan gets them through that in one piece. He's their protector and guide. And you can really see that when they all huddle together to sleep in the tree.

Example 2: Master Windu

Okay, wrong movie. But same guy. I never freaking noticed it was him! To be fair, you never see Mr. Arnold outside of the dark office. And there's a world of difference between a stoic office worker and a Jedi Master.

When I realized it was him, I looked up what other movies he's been in. And it occurred to me that everythigngI've seen him in, he dies. What the heck? (Except The Incredibles. And I only just learned that he was in that too! )

Anyway. Master Windu is one of the characters Fern gets to know, so I'm automatically biased in his favor. I've seen him play as many villains as good guys. And being weird like I am, I pretend to feel betrayed when an actor goes on to do villains. "No, don't turn to the dark side!"

And the Award for the Best Villain Goes To

 You know, I think I may have actually found my favorite villain. I've never had one before. 

Though it's only in the context of the full series. I didn't have much of an opinion of him until we got his back story. From that point, I liked him more and more until the end.

Now knowing his full story,  I can really get into his crazy villain side (Maybe I find it so entertaining because of the crazy times right now. Should I be concerned? ).

Also, if he were a human, I would not love him as much. I'm willing to forgive animals for almost anything. 

Although, does he count as a villain? Considering season 3 of the show?