RJ Writing Ink

My Plans for December 2019

Thanksgiving Day’s behind us and we survived Black Friday; and I hope the Force was with you if you went shopping. Now the holiday season’s here, and if you’ve followed RJ-Writing Ink since last year, you’ll remember what I did. I watched a holiday special a day, then reviewed it here. Now I’m here to say that I won’t be doing that again this year.

There are multiple reasons behind this. Firstly, trying to write a special a day got hectic for me. I still had to do my other posts, and it got a little difficult. Secondly, there are a few things that I want to focus on for this December. Thus, here are my plans for December 2019. I think you’ll find them taking you to a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Hype Build-Up

I don’t get as much of a chance to write about it here, but I’m a huge fan of Star Wars. I enjoy everything from the movies to the books, games, and lore. Despite my love of the franchise, I’ve been a skeptic about the sequel films since they started. However, I refuse to let my optimism be diminished. As such, I aim to make sure the Force is with me for December.

All throughout December, I’m going to be writing about all things Star Wars. There’s no set theme for this, as it can be about anything from the franchise. Some ideas I do have, though, include:

• Favorite Moments in Star Wars
• A look at the philosophies of the Jedi and Sith (and their flaws)
• Characters in Star Wars I’m a fan of
• Good things about the Star Wars prequels
• My biggest problems with the Star Wars sequels

All of this will lead up to my review of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. May the Force be with us this December.

A Look Back on 2019

If you’ll recall, I wrote a post at the end of last year calling 2019 “The Year of Endings.” The rationale being that this year saw the end of a lot things in pop culture. With the year coming to a close, I want to look on some of the things that came to an end this year. I’m not sure if this will be one post or a series of posts, but I can tell you that I plan to have it up between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

To clarify, most of what I’ll be writing about will be things I’ve already written on RJ-Writing Ink.

A Look Back on the 2010s

For better or for worse, the 2010s were an eventful decade for humanity. From world-changing historic events to the rise of cultural icons, the 2010s were big. Thus, with the decade coming to a close, I felt it’s appropriate to look back on the big highlights.

Expanding on my look back on 2019, I’ll be writing on a number of topics. I already have some ideas in place:

• Biggest Global Events of the 2010s
• Best Movies of the 2010s
• Biggest moments for pop culture in the 2010s
• Best TV shows
• Best animated TV shows

There’s no set timetable for this, though. All I know is that I’ll be posting it throughout December.

Some Holiday Specials

Alright, I know I said that I wouldn’t be focusing on holiday specials this year. However, if I see a special or movie that I like, then I want to write about it. Don’t expect it to take up much of my blog, though.

May the Force Be With Us

Well, that’s everything that I wanted to say. In between all this, I’ll be doing posts on my regularly scheduled topics. May the Force be with you!

Click here for some of my Star Wars stuff.

Come here to see some of my Animanga stuff.

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 25– Gravity Falls

Remember yesterday when I said I had Gravity Falls planned out? Well, I meant it. Since Halloween is one of the best possible excuses times to watch Disney’s hit show, I’m doing two for two on Gravity Falls. This time, we’re looking at the second official Halloween special. Be warned, though: this special is a ploy Grunkle Stan to get you to buy his merchandise!

Unlike the first special, this one’s told in a Treehouse of Horror style. It features three tales told to an unnamed guest (the viewers) by Grunkle Stan to get them to buy his stuff!

Hands Off!

In our first story, Grunkle Stan steals a watch from a witch at a swap-meet, invoking her wrath. As a result, Stan’s cursed and loses his hands, and the only way to get them back is to apologize. He also may have to kiss the hand-witch.

This story is Grunkle Stan at his Stan-iest: underhanded and stubborn as possible. While getting one’s hands magically stolen doesn’t sound creepy, this is Gravity Falls, the cartoon that raidiates weirdness. The Hand-Witch lives in a creepy cave with an army of disembodied hands that remind me of spiders. The unsettling combination’s Gravity Falls at its finest!

Abaconings

In this next story, Dipper tries to make himself smarter to solve an impossible puzzle. So he covers his face in a rare mushroom to increase his intelligence. What he failed to count on is Waddles eating the mushroom paste and becoming sentient. While Dipper loves smart Waddles, Mabel’s sad to lose her pet pig; will she get him back?

This story wasn’t actually scary. However, not all the Treehouse of Horror segments are scary, either. Even so, I enjoyed the story because of how sweet the bond between Mabel and Waddles is. He gives up being smart to to be with Mabel again. Not to mention, Smart Waddles gets vices by renowned scientist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson. That man’s got an amazing voice!

Clay Day

When Stan learns that Mabel’s terrified of stop-motion claymation, he tries to cure her of her fear. They go to see local animation effects artist Harry Claymore, but it turns out all the clay figures are real. It’s up to Mabel to face her fears and save the day.

I don’t know how the staff did, but they managed to place stop motion over normal animation. The contrast between the two makes it so appealing to watch. In addition, the stop motion creatures are creepy, in an old-fashioned way. The story also makes several playful jabs at how tedious animation is, both modern and stop-motion.

The Cheapskate

Grunkle Stan’s stories were entertaining, but the real clincher’s the ending. When the viewer doesn’t buy anything from him, he drugs them and turns them into his latest attraction. Introducing, the legendary Cheapskate!

That’s right, Grunkle Stan’s a jerk. Good thing this episode’s as non-canon as Treehouse of Horror. I enjoyed this special, but like I said yesterday, all of Gravity Falls is Halloween worthy. Happy Halloween everyone, and stay weird!

Also, check out this creepy thing!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 24-Gravity Falls

If I had to choose the most important TV shows of the decade, Gravity Falls would be near the top. Its one of the best cartoons in living memory, and I’d argue it kick-started Disney’s slew of great cartoons. It’s quirky and imaginative, yet also filled with mysteries. Just ask Nostalgia Critic: the guy loves the show! Best of all, its perfect for both summertime and the season of Halloween because it mixes the appeal of both. While the entire show’s worthy of a Halloween binge-watch, there are actually two episodes that are proper Halloween specials. Tonight, we cover the first one, Summerween.

Summerween

In the town of Gravity Falls, the people love Halloween so much, they celebrate it twice a year. For someone whose loved Halloween all their lives, this would be like a dream come true; it certainly is for the Pines Twin, who can’t wait to get free candy.

That is, until Dipper learns that his unattainable crush, Wendy, is going to a Summerween party. Not wanting to look bad in front of her, he tries ditching Mabel and her friends and trick-or-treating by faking being sick. When Mabel finds out he’s lied to her, she’s understandably upset. Especially since she takes it as a sign that Dipper’s too old to enjoy Halloween anymore.

A big part of Gravity Falls is that it’s a coming-of-age story in which Dipper and Mabel must mature to face the dangers in the town. However, as Alex Hirsch says in the real life Gravity Falls Journal 3, “growing old isn’t the same as growing up.” In other words, getting older doesn’t mean people have to wholly abandon the quirks and wonder of their childhood. In addition, I fail to see why Dipper would think he’s too old to go trick-or-treating.

Teens Can Enjoy Halloween, Too

In my personal experience, I fail to see why getting older doesn’t mean one can’t enjoy trick-or-treating. I kept doing it until I was well into my teens, and I wasn’t ashamed of it. Firstly, it’s fun dressing up and seeing all the costumes and decorations. Furthermore, it’s free candy! Who would say no to free candy?

Alex Hirsch Likes Anime

My favorite part of “Summerween”, though, was the monster of the week, the Summerween Trickster. It’s a local monster that punishes kids who lack the spirit of the holiday, and demands the kids give him 500 pieces of candy before the night is done or it’ll eat them. They almost succeed, but then Dipper messes up, causing the Trickster to shift into a monstrous form.

The Summerween Trickster’s shape and movement resembles the character No-Face from Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. In that film, No-Face was a spirit that took on a monstrous appearance after eating other spirits. I loved that in the movie, and seeing it in the show was fun.

It turns out, though, that the Trickster is all the discarded holiday candy no one eats. Its bitter over this fact, so it eats all the kids. At least, until Soos eats its candy heart. If it weren’t for the fact that its made of candy, that would be messed up. Way to dodge the PG rating, Hirsch!

A Delightful Gravity Falls Episode

Like Nostalgia Critic says, there’s really no bad episode of Gravity Falls. I was a casual fan of it, and I kept up with it until the show ended, but this was one of its best episodes. It’s got a great plot, it makes some great allusions to pop culture, and if it weren’t a kids show, it would be very gruesome to watch! This episode is perfect for Halloween! Plus, we got these cute meme’s of Waddles.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Mystery Shack Plug-In

If you’re a big fan of Gravity Falls or other cartoons like I am, then I have the perfect store for you. Introducing the Mystery Shack; a real-life one! Located somewhere in Georgia, this is the one-stop-shop for fans of western animation. They’ve got merchandise from all the great cartoons and anime of our time. They’ve got everything from Star vs., Rick and Morty, Steven Universe, and of course, Gravity Falls. I shop from them a lot, and they make quality merchandise.

If you’re interested, then click the link below to go check out their website. They’ve got plenty of cool stuff!

PS- I’m not doing this because I was paid to. I’m doing this because they’re awesome and you should buy their stuff.