History TearJerker / DemoReel

* The meta is amusing, but Donnie's reasoning for wanting a SlashFic of him is surprisingly sad: he just wants to be popular enough for that to happen.

* "You took something that was miserable from the past and you just obsessed over it. You turned it into your lives!" Sad on its own, even worse because it's clear who he's also yelling at on a meta level. Don't worry Donnie, Critic hated himself and his job too.

** "The acting's really good." Fittingly, Doug's acting is wonderful, sounding exactly [[spoiler: like a little boy who just got news that his mommy died]].

* It's hard to tell what's worse, Donnie's [[spoiler:SarcasmMode speech about how sorry his for not giving a movie his all when ''his mother had just killed herself'']], or his caretakers thinking he's just acting afterwards.

* People who were so happy over Critic maturing in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee and becoming a BigGood adult might cry rage tears at the final "explanation": [[spoiler: he needed to be punished and learn his lesson (you know the one he'd already learned) by becoming a tragic FormerChildStar]].

* Tacoma, Karl, Quinn and Rebecca being far too accepting that their lives aren't real and they're [[spoiler: doomed to stay in purgatory]]. No wonder Donnie's nearly crying when he's forced to say goodbye.

** [[spoiler:Karl giving a final salute before they all disappeared and Donnie left the purgatory, possibly forever]]. The music played during this doesn't help. In Midwest Media Expo 2015, Rob was asked what his most emotionally draining moment was, and he picked this goodbye. Reasons why are sad in themselves.

** And it turns out he died for nothing anyway. Critic was begging for death by ''SonOfTheMask'' and acting even worse by insulting child appearances by ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia''.

** And it turns out he died for nothing anyway. Critic was begging for death by ''SonOfTheMask'' and acting even worse by insulting child appearances by ''BridgeToTerabithia''.

* Rebecca's heartbreak over their present for Donnie being destroyed. Luckily it ends in a {{badass}} NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.

** Again, the RealitySubtext makes it hurt worse. Elisa Hoffman was based off Elizabeth Hartman, an actress who starred in ''APatchOfBlue'' and had her career dry up when she got older, resulting in a "killed by Hollywood" suicide.

** [[spoiler:Karl giving a final salute before they all disappeared and Donnie left the purgatory, possibly forever]]. The music played during this doesn't help.

* In the movie "sequel", the movie, though a little cliche is still acted good enough to leave a substantial mark, especially with Tacoma's character quoting "Amazing Grace" as their closing line.

* Donnie’s scenes where he’s trying to survive in the woods are hard to watch. Especially when he ends up in tears because there’s no water (until he quotes ''{{Dune}}'').

* People who were so happy over Critic maturing in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee and becoming a BigGood might cry rage tears at the final "explanation": [[spoiler: he needed to be punished and learn his lesson (you know the one he'd already learned) by becoming a tragic FormerChildStar]].

[[folder: Transformers]]
* Tacoma assuming their roots are crying themselves to sleep. It's presented as a snarky joke, but with everything that's happened to all three of them, there's no reason to think that hasn't happened.
* Donnie's quietly hurting reaction to Tacoma and Rebecca laughing at his cheap Optimus Prime outfit. He stands there for a while completely silent and then when he tells Tacoma that his costume is worse, his voice is measured just enough to let him know he went too far.
[[/folder]]