Meet the Books! - Pack Up Your Troubles

Some of you may have noticed that there is a new page on this old blog. Within it rests the record of all of my stories. What does this mean? Unfortunately, my friends, it means the end of Meet the Books!. This shall be the last Meet the Books! link-up I shall host for a long time, and possibly forever. I may post another one from time to time with only the questions on it, for the sake of other bloggers' story introductions, but there will be no more full posts here. Not only do I have no more stories of my own to introduce, but I have finally figured out the fickle contraption that drove me to make the feature in the first place. So, as this may be the last one, if you want to join the link-up, now's your last chance. The rules (for those who don't know) are simple enough - link back to my original post, send me a link of your Meet the Books! post in a comment, include the Meet the Books! picture if you like, and answer the questions for the link-up. This last feature will be on a prospective work, actually, because I have no more WIPs left to introduce, but I wanted to give the feature a last farewell. So, without further ado, the final one in the series...

What is the genre?
The genre is Drama, though it certainly has some Romance elements.
What is the title? Time period?
The title is Pack Up Your Troubles, after the wartime song... which leads to the time period - WWI.
How is it written (POV, main character, etc.)?
As usual, third person limited for me shall probably be the format. As I have not actually started writing it yet, I haven't much more detail than that at present.
What is the setting?
America and Europe in WWI.
Who are the characters?
Lady without a name is a young American girl who regularly sees and is in love with Arthur Whitten, who is strongly disliked by her brother,
Jules (no last name yet) - the lady's brother and a strict soul. Also American, but more of the Scottish blood comes out in him, and between him and his sister begin on their own in life, and his own high standards for her, he very strongly disapproves of Arthur, who doesn't seem worthy or reliable.
Arthur Whitten is the date of the young lady. Being your typical American youth, it's fairly easy to find meager details in Arthur to disapprove of for Jules, though on a whole he's an alright lad.

What does the plot consist of?
As I've mentioned before, Jules most heartily disapproves of Arthur for his sister, despite their taking to each other. In fact, Jules so much disapproves that he forbids (and enforces this forbiddance) Arthur to ever step foot near her again. Shortly after this, however, an accident occurs where, by chance, Arthur saves Jules' life. Arthur then steps out of the picture, going to the WWI front without a word. Jules realizes now, of course, that Arthur's nothing like he imagined - he really is a decent man. And he feels bad about splitting the pair up. He apologizes to his sister, and he promises that, whatever it takes, he'll get Arthur back to her - whatever it takes. So he follows Arthur to the front... but when he finds him, Arthur's already been in a battle... and gotten shell-shocked. Arthur doesn't remember a thing about America or the girl or Jules - just the battle he was in when it happened. But Jules promised, and he doesn't do anything lightly, so he tries to convince Arthur to remember everything. Traumatized, Arthur denies any of it, bewildered and wary of this stranger who can seemingly tell him his life. Jules puts his convincing of Arthur to rest for the moment, realizing that Arthur really can't recall anything at all, but Jules instead sticks with Arthur on the front, through thick and thin, trying to keep him safe and serve as his companion. Despite the cold confusion between them, they become friends, though Arthur still does not remember anything.

 Eventually, through a long series of events in the war, a battle occurs where, saving Arthur's life, Jules is blinded. Though Jules doesn't know it, it makes something click in Arthur - Arthur remembers the incident where he did the same for Jules. Jules, however, has to be sent home to America, and can no longer follow Arthur. His promise is broken. Determined, desperate, but unsure of how to proceed, Jules only goes back to his sister as he has to. He continues to hold that he'll fulfill his word, though - somehow. His sister, at this point, doesn't care - she forgives him and understands perfectly well that nothing can be done. One day Jules, however, hears word of an award ceremony; a war hero has returned to the US and is receiving a medal - Cap. Arthur Whitten. Overjoyed, Jules does everything in his power to contact Arthur, and finally gets a hold of him. Arthur, having remembered a little more, is hesitant, but agrees to meet Jules, the soldier who saved his life and may be telling the truth about the past. They set the time and place and wait. On the way to meet Arthur, however, Jules is caught in an accident - a car runs into him and he never makes it to their meeting place. Somehow, Arthur hears of the accident of his friend, and he rushes to the hospital, where Jules is gravely injured. Jules' sister is there. Arthur sees her, and he realizes that Jules has been telling the truth this whole time - everything was real. Blinded, crippled, perhaps even dying, Jules finally sees them back together - he kept his promise.

What gave you the idea?
Not being able to sleep, and having too many ideas... as usual.
Who are the favorite characters so far?
The only one aside from myself who's even read the summary is my sister right now, but her favorite character is Jules.
What is the favorite scene so far?
No scenes as of yet, as it is a prospective project.
Any drawings?
Not yet.
Any snippets?
Again, not yet.
Strong point in story?
The title! Don't you just love it when people use songs for titles? No? Well, I suppose I shall relish it alone, then...
Weak point in story?
Just about everything else - it is very, very recent, and needs a lot of work.
What are your plans for it?
Well, haha, I suppose I'll write it eventually...
Any particular writing habits for it?
Not yet. Really, using a prospective story for some of these questions just doesn't work, but I really did having nothing else left.

If it were made into a movie, what would be your ideal cast for it?
Hmm. I would probably pick Dana Andrews for Jules, the lady would have to be Betty Grable, and Arthur could be played by young Henry Fonda.
I'm afraid that's all for now, folks. Apologies for the lax blogging... again. Hopefully you enjoyed this post and this link-up's swan song! If you want to join, this may be your last chance, so please do!

The Spring Cleaning Tag

Well. If I do say so myself, this post has come before procrastination (sorta). That's nice timing... for me, at least. Particularly when you are beta reading three novels and a short story or two, still doing schoolwork, attempting to learn a Tchaikovsky piece, and speaking about yourself in two different tenses all at the same time. Phew. But... apparently, I still have time for spring cleaning. Not room, house, or kitchen spring cleaning, mind you, but a writer's spring cleaning (what writer has time to clean their whole house?!). So, without further ado, I give you the rules for The Spring Cleaning Tag, which I picked up from Megan Chappie, here. (Grazie, Megs!)

• Link back to the person who tagged you. (Check!)
• Include the graphic. (Eh... I'll get to that in a moment.)
• Answer the questions.
• Tag three other people. (I shall do my best!)

At any rate, to satisfy rule #2, here is that graphic.

Dust Bunnies and Plot Bunnies:Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

Hmm. Well, my three big plans for this year (writing-wise, of course) are probably as follows:

1. Finish The Second Brother above anything else, and start that sequel because I can't live too much longer without it.
2. Finish typing up all of In Greater Hands and thereby determine whether it is finished or not.
3. Finally work some more on that coauthored book of mine...

Goal #1 is the big one. Unfortunately... I'm already kind-of sick of the book from Camp NaNo. But I'll finish it still - just watch. (At least, I hope I will...) As for typing things up, I am terrible about it. If I meet the other two goals, it will probably be only because I ditched another previous goal of restarting/rebooting Alomina this year - it's just way too big of a project for right now.

Which Stage Are You At? Expound!

Er, haha... Well... I kinda liked Megan's answer to this one... I'm about in the same place in writing overall - satisfied for the moment, but maybe not completely, 100% finished. For my main project of the year, however, I am right about to run into the climax - my favorite and least favorite part of the story. I only wish that Camp had gotten me into it, though - stopping right before the climax is really a terrible place to stop...

Anyhow. For the most part, I still have a good amount of writing to do - TSB still will need completed and its massive editing notes implemented, IGH will still need typed up as it is only about halfway to three-quarters of the way there at this point, and I have not even started writing that coauthored book since the last time (which was last summer, I believe... oops.)

Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share One to Three Snippets You Love).

Ooh, goodie! Well, here are some minor samples from this year's work, including some pieces from the final work on Draft #3 of The Pain of a Memory...

***

From TPoaM...

***

"Perhaps not." Echo stood and bowed to her reverently, his head hung slightly. "I must only apologize to you, My Lady, for having failed my mission." His gray eyes shone in an almost sad, familiar way, and he left.

            Those eyes... that gaze... those words... Anwynne blinked in surprise and stood up. She went to follow Echo. "Wait!"

***

From In Greater Hands...

***

"I'm already there - I can hold it, just get out of here and get the code out of here." Vance's voice was calm, but not completely steady. "The grate's not just going to fall down right this second - go on, make sure Sam's alright."

            Leta's eyes flew down the hill to the scaffolding where the grate was. A tiny, tall silhouette was just barely visible within the shadowy control room even as the scaffolding trembled, threatening to fall. Vance.

***

And, finally, from The Second Brother...

***

Suddenly, a yell came from Owain's side. Feo tumbled off of his horse sideways and into Owain. Owain halted abruptly, flagging down the triplets. He scrutinized Feo bewilderedly.

            Feo looked up, wincing, his left shoulder pad torn, his left shoulder beneath it bleeding slightly and the left side of his neck bruised as though something massive had hit it, though nothing except perhaps smoke seemed to be there now. He breathed hard and swallowed painfully, his evergreen eyes flashing with urgency. He managed to just barely spit out one word as he rose with difficulty - "Silverwolves...!"

***

Bonus! Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning Of Your Writer Shelf! (And Share a Picture!)

Eh, hehe, it took me a while, but here's a pic of my spring-cleaned writer shelf... (one of them, anyways)

And that wraps the tag up for now! For the three other people, I tag... um... Lia@The Singing Writer, The Doorman@The Lord, His Lady, and Their Doorman, and Catherine Hawthorn@The Rebelling Muse.
What did you think? Have you done this tag yet? Have you done any spring cleaning...? How have/have your writer goals changed this year? Chat with me!



The Pain of a Memory - Part XIII

I apologize for how long it's been since I last posted on TPoaM, but here is the next installment. Very soon, I will edit a couple of the posts (I will note it on another post when I do so), primarily the first one, so, while it will not be absolutely necessary to understand the story to re-read those parts, they will have some information that pops up later more in details. The last episode - for lack of a better word - can be found here, and it contains links to all the previous ones.

***

            Errius looked out across the haze around him. There was a voice faintly ringing in his mind, saying a good-bye. He knew the voice well enough. It was the voice of someone long dead, but somehow Errius still remembered its sound. He looked around. There was also a vague face in the mistiness, a face Errius couldn't quite see all the way.  

            Errius stepped closer, gazing intently at the face. It had appeared before, but he had never been able to quite pick it out. He looked a little closer. It started to become slightly clearer. Yes, now it was becoming clearer... Errius could almost tell who it was... Then another face came, one already extremely clear. It was that of the bandit captain, Rogan. And suddenly the faces merged, blending into one face. Somehow it was still Rogan, but it was somebody else too... Errius just couldn't think who...

            Suddenly Errius opened his eyes. He looked around. The dawn was streaming into the sky, and Elystra was still asleep. Errius stood up. The faces... It had just been a dream, though, and it was time to forget it. But then, the dream had seemed as though it were telling him something... What, that Rogan and that vague face from the past were the same? That he'd seen Rogan before? It must have been Elystra stirring the idea in his mind. He'd never dreamed that before. But then, he had seen that vague face before...

            Errius strode over to Elystra. He shook her shoulders gently. Slowly her silvery eyes opened, to reflect the sunrise through the trees above her.

            She turned and looked over at Errius. "Errius...?" Elystra sat up weakly. "Oh, I'm sorry - is it time for taking to the road now?"

            Errius nodded. "I only wish that we could rest a little longer, but..."

            Elystra smiled a little sleepily. "It's alright, Errius. I am not weary anymore, see?"

            Errius helped her to her feet and smiled. "You were never very good at fooling me, Elystra, and you're still not now. But I'll make you take your rest once we reach the capital"

            Elystra took his hand. "Make me? Oh, dear, I suppose I must behave myself if the captain of the royal guard himself is threatening me"

            Errius rolled his eyes. "More like your older brother, who isn't impressed by your little bit of jesting, by the way."

            Elystra laughed. "Is it  bad thing, Errius, that even in this odd way, I'm glad to have you to myself?"

            Errius looked at her chidingly, but ended up breaking into a smile. "If you don't behave yourself, you may be having me to yourself more often."

            Elystra coughed and then gestured to him as though impatient. "Come, Errius, we mustn't tarry about here bantering when we've got a journey to make," she said innocently.

            Errius laughed a little, for the first time that he could remember doing so in a long time. "Alright, then let's depart, Elystra. I'm sorry my bantering was delaying us"

            With this, they set off. After a few hours, they'd made it into a small glade in the forest. Errius stopped. He looked up at the sky. The sun was in the center of the sky now.

            Errius turned to Elystra. "We should be coming across the river anytime now, and the path is along it"

            Elystra heaved a little breath, and coughed. "That's good"

            Errius sighed. Poor Elystra... She was already exhausted. Errius took a breath and trudged on. Any moment now they should come across the river road... Errius pushed aside the branches of a tree on the edge of the glade. There it was. The river.

            Errius turned back to Elystra again. "There it is, Elystra" He smiled. "Don't worry - now it will be a lot easier from here. Only one day more until we reach the first town on this road"

            Errius slowly began to aid Elystra over the river. It would be soon now... Very soon...

***



Books of 2019 - January to April

Happy Easter to all! Hopefully everyone's was wonderful (and nobody noticed my bowing out). Ahem. I know that my blogging has been rather sporadic lately - I apologize.
Anyways, as usual, when I cannot think of anything to blog, but have been neglecting the old thing, I blog about books. So - here are some books (reviewed in brief) that I have read so far this year. (And if anyone is curious why I rate the endings of fiction - as someone did ask about this last time - it's because I cannot stand good books with bad endings personally, or badly-done endings, probably more so than any other part of the book being done badly.)

The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength)

by C.S. Lewis

This was one of the best books series/trilogies I have ever read. It was enjoyable. It was intense. It was light and comic. It was profoundly allegorical. It had such lovable characters. It had such gripping plot. It had settings like I'd never seen anywhere before, and described so vibrantly so as to almost arouse a physical taste and sight and smell of them, truly. When I heard it was a space story, I suppose it would be like every other space story - dark and stars and spaceships and weapons and military and alien civilizations and all the sorts of boring black and silver tech aesthetics that accompany most space stories now. But was I wrong. The first two particularly had such well-developed settings that I was almost drowning in qualia.

For the plots, Perelandra easily wins the crown - all of them had good plots, but Perelandra's was great. The first one's plot seems like nothing to get excited over if you just read a summary of it, but in the book it is quite splendid and leads you on quite well. The last one took some time to get started up on its plot, that's for sure, but once it finally did, its plot might have been better than Perelandra even.

The characters were great, particularly the recurring link, Professor Elwin Ransom (who, by the way, I now have a stuffed owl named after). The Scot in the third book (don't ask me to spell his name, please) would be a candidate for one of the most amusing characters in classic literature I've read. And the characterization of Merlin in the third book was quite fascinating and definitely unexpected.

My Favorite Character - Prof. Ransom, of course.

Writing Style - I'd say a pretty easy 5/5 stars.

Morality - 4/5 stars. It's definitely for adults because of certain discussions therein, but they're quite enlightening and definitely profoundly insighted.

The Ending - 4.5/5 stars. It was quite a close, and the scene at Belbury near the end was utterly terrifying. Not to mention, the resolve of the main character's family conflict was such a relief after a whole book of back and forth stress over it.

Overall Rating - About 4.5/5 stars as well. I would actually give it that fifth star if not for a rather slow beginning in the third book (which was good anyways... just a bit less enthralling than the first two books and their beginnings).

The Lost Arts of Modern Civilization

by Mitchell Kalpakgian

This book was a collection of essays detailing some beautiful traditional cultural practices that have disappeared in modern days. Some of the subjects focused on included dressing well, letter-writing, courtship, pleasing people, and hospitality. It was definitely enjoyable, but it was rather sad because everything in it was, I'm afraid, rather true - so many practices have been neglected for no good reason nowadays, and those practices helped society and the next generation blossom. It really is a shame. But anyway, the book was very good if you enjoy the essay style (I like it well enough, though I would have probably preferred a full-on book rather than short essays collected together).

Writing Style - 3/5 stars. I really wish the book was longer.

Morality - 5/5 stars.

Overall Rating - Probably 4/5 stars.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

by Baroness Orczy

Unlike the others above, I had actually read this one before - numerous times. And it is probably my favorite book, if I had to pick just one. The allegory, the romance, the setting, the characters, the writing style, and the sheer beauty of the book (plus the wonderfully pleasant scarlet and gold binding on our copy) is just sigh-inducing, like a melodic overture to an opera or something poetic like that.

My Favorite Character - Sir Percy Blakeny, Esquire.

Writing Style - Absolutely amazing - 5/5 stars at least for my personal preferences, and still at least 4/5 for technicalities.

Morality - Only 4/5 stars for minor swearing.

Overall Rating - 5/5 star. It is possibly my favorite book, after all.

Anyone who has read and wishes to see a movie of The Scarlet Pimpernel should really seek out the  B&W Leslie Howard version - it's really the only one that's true to the story.

The Power of Silence

by Cardinal Sarah

I'm still reading this one in addition to My Imitation of Christ, but it's quite a book. It really makes one stop and think - as it's supposed to. The book chronicles how one can truly find inner potential, particularly spiritual potential merely by closing off the noise and distraction of the outside world for sessions. It is, as Cardinal Sarah points out, nearly impossible to have a tenable relationship with God in a world as loud and rushed and ours is, so silence is really necessary to maintain any sort of spiritual motivation or progress, particularly in developing the virtues and prayer life. It's been a very good book so far, and I hope to finish it soon after Lent.

Writing Style - 3/5 stars for my personal preference (I don't really like the interview style), but the efficiency and technical prowess of it is more like 5/5.

Overall Rating - So far, 4/5 at least, but I'm not terribly far in.

Overall, so far this year has had nothing but very good, very formidable, and very high-ranking books in my own opinion. I definitely encourage the reading of them, particularly The Space Trilogy and The Power of Silence. What did you think? Have you read any of these? Do you want to? What are you reading right now? What's on your list for the future? How was your Easter-Tide?

Silence and Beauty - A Lenten Meditation From Cardinal Sarah

Finally - the Lenten meditation post I promised. Hopefully it's worth something, because otherwise, I have failed in quality as well as timing and length thereof, I'm afraid... for which I apologize. Anyways, though, I mean (and meant) to make these posts a tradition, but obviously I kind-of failed last year. Here is the original Lenten post that I did (concerning the song of Violetta Valery and Lenten sacrifice).

It's very strange sometimes how much one word can do. Oftentimes, we human beings can become as distraught or as fluttery as anything just because of one word. But sometimes it's less than one word that does the most.
Silence is a strange thing. It's not noiselessness or noise, and it can sometimes be sound. Silence is, perhaps, best defined as the real quieting of oneself to truly appreciate a thing. Who can concentrate on Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae whilst working out math problems? Who can gaze at the Sistine Chapel when a vaudevillian is dancing away beside them? Who can possibly speak and still hear the last, heart-rending tones of Verdi's La Traviata as they should be heard? As Cardinal Sarah points out in his amazing book, The Power of Silence, without silence, there is nothing we can enjoy; at best, we can placate or numb ourselves with half-attentive entertainment that is shallow and light enough for us to take without proper concentration. How much more is this so for things more consuming than recreation?
Silence is the voice of God, for it is all beauty, and without it beauty is pointless, it is all truth, for nothing is more real and true than deep silence, and it is all goodness, for, without it, no one has a hope of prospering in virtue. There's not too much that's harder to accomplish, though. Meditation has always been a difficulty for me, at least, and I know many people who feel the same way. When you are expected to give everything you have - body, mind, emotions, everything - to only one thing, it is so hard. In this day and age, it is an accomplishment even to be half-invested in something. To exercise our every power towards one cause seems, well, sometimes unbearable. But this is what silence is; in fact, this is what God is: the whole of a thing, uninterrupted and unblemished, lacking in nothing. God is existence itself, the fullness of all three eternal goods, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. So it seems strange that He should dwell in silence - isn't silence just a lack of sound? Isn't it just nothing? How can God, He Who Is, by His Nature have anything to do with silence?

Silence is not the lack of sounds. Silence is unification of everything one has towards one cause. Christ Himself points out that a cause which is divided won't get anywhere. So we have to be devoted to something. That thing will either be nothing - all the meaningless noise and distraction that infiltrates us constantly - or it will be God, the full unification of everything that is good - silence.
So... maybe there was some rambling getting to it, but my point is that we need to distance ourselves via silence for a little while, especially in this Lenten season. If everything is pointless without God, then we need to listen to Him by quieting ourselves.
If we cannot give even our silence to God for Lent, then how can we expect to give our souls?

The Crusade - A Poem

My apologies for both lack of my usual Lenten Meditation post (I will try to post it soon!), and for the rather militaire rather than penitential nature of this particular poem - hopefully it is not too contrasting with the season...

***

Oh, how the cross's trumpets rang;

Hear what they had to say -

"Come over hill, come over dale,

Come march, we march away

To battle vice and win for Christ

Jerusalem, we pray -

Jerusalem, we pray!"

"As crimson as the blood we pledge

Is the red cross we bear -

Oh, come over hill, come over dale,

Come into the Eastern air,

To give your all for glory or fall

To give to our Host-King fair -

To give to our Host-King fair!"

Oh, have you heard the clarion call

That did so long ago

Come over hill, come over dale

To let all Christians know

Their time was for a godly war

Against all sin and woe -

Against all sin and woe?

And did you know that, although Time

Has since that holy ring

Come over hill, come over dale,

It still to all Christians sings:

"Standard unfurled, go purge the world

Of any unholy thing -

Of any unholy thing"?

And since, commanded, we must do

As we have thus been told,

Come over hill, come over dale,

Your courage and effort unfold

'Til our war-band may, hand-in-hand,

March into the gates of gold -

March into the gates of gold.

Lego Movie 2: A Review

I'm afraid I'm rather lax about reviewing movies. I usually excuse myself by the fact that I almost never watch newer movies, and on that rare occasion that I do, they are usually ones that have already been out and reviewed for a while. Nobody wants to hear reviews of old or obscure movies, so I just disappear from the movie-reviewing scene. However. I committed the every-so-often atrocity of going to a theater to see a movie, so I suppose in this case, I have no excuse not to provide a comprehensive review of the movie I saw - that being The Lego Movie 2. The trailer is here.
[*Spoiler warning*]

The Plot

As a plot is generally what carries a movie, I chose to review this first. The plot consisted of the Duplo aliens, played by the little sister of the boy, (they were seen at the end of the first movie) having successfully terrorized the Lego world and left, only coming back to destroy whenever something that caught their interest was built (e.g. something shiny, colorful, or creative).

Thus, the world had degenerated into a teenage apocalypse in a few years, and everything built was dark and uninteresting. The conflict begins when another spaceship from the aliens arrives, this time apparently bearing a beacon of peace - all the strongest leaders of this Lego world are to come to attend a marriage ceremony on one of the alien planets for the purpose of making peace. Obviously, Emmet and Lucy (previously known as Wyld Style) are suspicious of this, particularly the latter.

But it is left completely up to Emmet, the apparently spineless sap, to save Lucy and the others when Lucy, Batman, Captain Metalbeard, Benny, and Unikitty are all forcibly taken in the spaceship by an ambassador, to go to the aforementioned ceremony. Emmet is quite alone and quite unprepared for the job, being apparently helpless despite the abilities seen in the first movie. On setting out, he is aided and saved from near failure and doom by a mysterious and ultra-masculine space wanderer (who drives a time-traveling spaceship manned by a raptor - yes, dinosaurs - gunning crew) by the name of Rex (or REX).

Now. When all turns out, *large spoilers alert* the bad guys turn out not to be bad after all - the aliens really do merely intend to make a marital alliance. The real bad one, apparently, is Rex, who merely wants some sort-of vague, unspecified revenge upon vague, unspecified persons, for an event that took place years ago and changed his sweet personality of Emmet to the  (allegedly) toxically masculine one he now possesses, as REX (Radical Emmet X-Treme, if my memory serves me correctly). *spoilers end*

The plot had some good points to it - it certainly surprised me on the matter of the queen of the aliens, partaker in the marriage ceremony, who had a relevant identity unrevealed until the end. And while the choice to make other certain parties evil or incompetent was a rather cliché one, they involved another plot twist which was worthy of an eyebrow-raise.

Overall, the plot was fairly typical of the modern children's movie - rather unimaginative at its core but having a few worthwhile surprises to keep one from boredom.

The Characters

The characters I expected to know and love from the first movie were, unfortunately, rather changed. While Lucy (Wyld Style) was essentially the same, the light taken with the character of Emmet was not that he was a simple person eager to please and help, nor that he was a blind half-witted follower, as many think in the first movie. Rather, he was put up as a sort-of archetype for a femininely-caring and rather spineless, optimistic idealist who always thinks everything is awesome no matter what.

The character of Batman was also, sadly, not its formerly exaggerated and comical image. Batman was not only not in the movie a great deal, but spent most of it brainwashed (though we are made to believe in the end that he was not brainwashed at all) to love the effeminate and do whatever he is led into. Unfortunately, there was not much of Batman's ridiculously rude script which I personally found one of the entertainment highlights of the original movie.

Unikitty, Benny, and Metalbeard likewise are absent during much of the movie and do not seem like themselves much, except perhaps the former (though an amusing poke is made at the rather embarrassingly true fact of Benny not having much consistent character anyways).

Rex was easily my favorite character in the movie, I'm afraid to say. His gruff and hands-on personality was infectiously smiling, and, due to the lack of traditional gender roles in modern movies, it is always nice to see an unapologetically masculine character like him. The characters of the two main aliens, General Mayhem and the queen (don't ask me to spell her name, because I believe it would be futile to try) were ambiguous - General Mayhem had little to no character, and the queen's was hard to riddle out, as she never at any point, per the plot of the movie, seems to have clear intentions or characteristics, though I might say that a little less singing on her part to illustrate her hazy motives for her would've done her characterization a great deal of good.

The Themes

As you can probably tell from a few snide comments above, the I most certainly did not enjoy the theme. The main theme interwoven throughout the movie was an anti-masculinity, holding that it was toxic, destructive, and against true personality - even for those characters who at least aspired usually to be masculine, such as Batman. The feminism throughout the movie was, unfortunately, a killing disease. The movie was very good all but for this overwhelming propaganda-feel that was one of its unfortunate foundations. Just the blatant, in-your-face, constant feminism masked as femininity throughout the whole movie was sickeningly saccharine to me, making even the spectacles of the movie unbearable for the sheer sparkliness and colorfulness of it all. Everything masculine was choked out or vilified for most of the movie, which made it, unfortunately, a great deal less enjoyable and less skillfully done of a movie in comparison to the first one.
The Music
To me, the music is one of the most important things about a movie, but I realize that not everyone agrees with that, so I'll be brief. For the most part, the score consisted of fragments of the first movie's music and then the addition of a handful of rather irritating pop songs that did not quite measure up to "Everything is Awesome" in the first Lego Movie. Enough said.

There Were Good Things About It...

There were a few moments of sheer hilarity, I'll grant. The down-to-earth sense of humor that needs no reference to the crude or banal for its self-assertion which we saw in the first movie was again present in most of the second one (with an occasional exception concerning male-bashing jokes). And, obviously, the animation was amazing, just like the first one, and the Lego scenery was inspiring to any aspiring Lego creator, of course.

In Summary

The theme was terrible - feminist propaganda never showed its face so blatantly, I believe. The humor, aside from feministic traces here and there, was splendid, and was not dependent on rude gags and gross characterizations as most modern children's movie humor seems to be. The characters did not act like themselves, and it was a rather sad change, honestly. The plot mostly was a reflection of the theme. The Lego spectacle was, again, aside from feministic parts, quite stunning. The music was, well, rather forgettable. On a whole, I thought it was a slightly sad tribute to the first movie, which to date is one of my favorite CGI kid's movies. The only big moral problems with it were a feministic political correctness interwoven (plus, a brief appearance of a Lego Judge Ruth Bader-Ginsburg). It did, however, for its very denial of the need of traditional gender roles, accidentally reveal the differences between the genders: the male characters, even Emmet, all are active, generally wishing to protect and fight rather than be protected or fought for, and the female characters, even Lucy, had a nature more built on understanding and feelings (which... got a bit sickening as it was exaggerated considerably, but whatever).
Overall, I would say that the movie's probably not worth a second watch at least for the theme, but if you want to go and try it for yourself, there are definitely parts that would make it worth the time... just... don't buy a super expensive movie ticket for it.
What do you think? Have you seen this movie? Do you agree, or did you enjoy it more than I did? Planning on seeing it? Anything to add or argue? Chat with me!