#actually my first elizabeth mitchell movie!

[elizabeth-mitchells]

Elizabeth Mitchell as Carol Newman in The Santa Clause 2, you are so loved

[milfmas]

tagged by my saltmate @finnickodaiir. thank you bestie!!! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

last song: tonight i might by katseye

favorite color: purple 💜💜💜

last book: esperanza rising

last tv show: pluto

last movie: i actually can’t remember

sweet, spicy or savoury: sweet all the way

last thing i googled: bit tmi but praise kink… 🫣

relationship status: waiting for the harry to my louis

current obsession(s): first and foremost the degree i’m pursuing (education), zouis, namtanfilm, pluto, katseye, sdp, dti, robron, gnx by kendrick lamar, what a devastating turn of events by rachel chinouriri, dark/light academia fashion, nail polish designs

looking forward to: this weekend!!! (christmas party at my friend’s house AND my grandpa is coming to visit us!!!)

tagging (no pressure!!!): @louisgayvodka @sunkissedlouis @louisgrayhairs @kirk @ybep @beetlejuce @wlwjungkook @elizabeth-mitchells @terrortriplets @indigogirled @lonelychicago

[kitkatt0430]

Star Trek TOS for the fandom ask game!

Character I first fell in love with:

So this is another sci-fi series I was introduced to very young. When I was little I'd grab the VHS tapes of marathons my parents had recorded and watch them obsessively for TOS and TNG.

But first favorite character. Um... Either Spock, Scotty, or Uhura. I really don't know which. Definitely one of those three though.

Character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Yeoman Rand. She was a quickly dropped character from the first season and I don't think she made much of an impression on young me. But older me is well aware of what happened behind the scenes and what her character was meant to be... and honestly I love this character now. Janice is a really sweet, likable woman. She's friends with Sulu, she's patient with a socially stunted teenager with a crush on her, she has this mutual attraction with Kirk that neither act on because they respect each other too much as coworkers to risk ruining that...

She's this complicated and lovely character and the actress who portrayed her deserved so much better than she got. She does show up in the movies, however, so I'm glad that Janice got to have a good career in Starfleet.

(Seriously, though, Janice was supposed to be a pretty major role and what happened to Grace Lee Whitney is appalling.)

Character everyone loves but I don’t:

I don't know that there is one?

Maybe Gary Mitchell? I don't know how well liked he'd be considered, but he's an entitled ass. Not really sure how Kirk was friends with him even pre-psionic powers/a-god-am-I breakdown, because this guy treated women kinda... badly. He set Kirk up with a woman as a distraction attempt while taking Kirk's class at the Academy. Behaved like an entitled asshole when Elizabeth Dehner shot him down - using what I recognize now as some pretty aphobic language. And he was pretty shitty to Spock too.

I would have preferred him to have been the villain played by Cumberbatch than Khan but that's in part because he would have made such a perfect foil to new!Kirk. (And then you don't have to explain why a white guy is playing an Indian character...)

There's also The Companion but if I start talking about that clusterfuck I will probably forget to answer the rest of the questions due to losing my temper over that particular... episode. (It is bad though and I'd happily... well, not happily but I would rant about it if asked.)

Character I love but everyone else hates:

Similarly, I don't know how much Elizabeth Dehner is liked, but I really love her. I read her as aspec and career focused. She gets super powers that have already made someone else (admittedly someone who was already an entitled twit) go all 'a god am I' but she still keeps her compassion. She still recognizes that no, actually, they don't have the right to rewrite reality to suit their whims.

She saves Kirk at the cost of her own life. And I will never forgive new!Trek comics for writing her off as barely a footnote, Bones' ex who won't set foot on the ship because he's there. >_<

Character I used to love but don’t any longer:

I don't know that I've got an answer to this one. All those beloved characters.

Character I would kiss:

No kissing, but I bet Uhura gives the best hugs.

Character I want to slap:

In the Galileo Seven episode I want to slap Bones and a few other minor characters for the way they treat Spock.

A pairing I love:

Kirk/Spock, but I have to admit new Trek had me taken a second look at Spock/Uhura

A pairing I hate:

Hmmm... I don't know? There are a lot of one off ships for Kirk that I'm not fond of for various reasons. Some because he's pretty clearly only manipulating the situation to protect his crew. Some because he's not actually in a position to consent and the power imbalance - memory manipulation/amnesia/external threats - makes the whole thing pretty awful.

Elaan/Kirk is one that very much sticks out because he's literally brainwashed by her tears.

[scjacka]

Last episode. Let's all make our Christmas wish this year that it doesn’t come back

I don't even really remember how the stupid thing started (I may have been drinking to get through it XD). This is going to be disjointed because I rage paused a lot and I WILL NOT be rewatching any of this to get it correct. This show doesn't care about my time so I'm not wasting any more of it by rewatching, lol.

Kris is completely useless. Like there was zero point to him being in this season at all. I was also of the mindset that he was going to be a bigger role and maybe take over for Scott but he was completely pointless. I JUST REMEMBERED HE WAS THE KID THAT SAW SKINNY SCOTT WITH THE CANOE AND THAT WAS HIS SANTA ORIGIN STORY OR WHATEVER AND I STARTED YELLING AT THE REVISIONIST HISTORY AND MY HUSBAND WAS LIKE, ARE YOU OK?! AND I WAS LIKE DO I LOOK OK?!!?!

I may be wrong, but is this the first time we've actually seen the factory floor in this whole damn show? Like we're always in Scott's office, the stables, the real world, or the monitoring room. Have they even made any toys in these TWO SEASONS?! Maybe they have and

I liked the Betty/Olga fight (but like why a fake sword?) but the way it was cut back and forth with the Mad Santa/Scott discussion was annoying

The gnomes are just pissed cause they can't make toys... that's like all it took? Feel like we shoulda figured that out sooner. Same goes for Noel just being like, hey gnomes, just come help us.

The mug is the "amulet". Ok, sure. I didn't pause the show in anger about it. Like, not only did we rewrite and destroy the magic-powered watch from 2 earlier this season now we re-wrote the mug. None of this is helped by them bringing up the damn thing 2 episodes before the end like we knew anything about it and it wasn't just shoved in at the last minute. Does each Santa have a different "amulet" (for god sake just call it a talisman or something not associated with a necklace) or do they all get their power from the same ones? Did Judy technically drug him into being Santa then. Like got him drunk on Christmas power? If it's tied just to Mad Santa then why on earth would Judy still have it if there was a coup and all that shit to get rid of the man? Wouldn't it also be locked away somewhere?

Didn't Scott say he made Cal's vest out of the coat? Maybe I misinterpreted that in the early episodes but now he's just wearing it like no big.

Laughing really hard at Scott not realizing he's been a douche until the "villain" says he is with regards to Cal. MS should just be Santa and Scott can go live at the fake Santa village with Fluffy.

Laughing really hard at suddenly remembering Charlie exists and pretending like you get some kind of Christmas powers from him.

Sandra is all-powerful. Good for her I guess.

I still love Befana. Like she's the only character I consistently enjoy watching

Elizabeth Mitchel is too good for this show and is acting much harder than she should with this garbage.

"We fixed EB he's good now but we didn't have the budget to bring back Tracy Morgan or he didn't want to be in the makeup again or something so we're just not gonna show him, but take our word he's fine!"

Why are they singing again and especially that song? Something about a child elf and the lyrics "I touch you once, I touch you twice" is unsettling to me.

Cal's gonna go to college... wouldn't he have to like, go to real school first and have transcripts and whatnot (I'm sure they'd magic it away or whatever). Also, he's not that bright so like, how's he gonna fair in higher education?

Everyone that goes on Kribble Krabble doesn't come back. I swear to god that's the plot of one of the few Hallmark xmas movies I've ever watched. But I guess that means Curtis isn't exploded. With the logic that they all Kribble and don't come back, I'm convinced that was actually Judy working in the bad xmas village which is just a sad development for her and really a downgrade from being at the Pole

So we basically end this season right where we started at the beginning of season 1. Like, Cal's not gonna be Santa and Scott's just gonna be Santa forever and never retire. Mad Santa is there now too I guess (also, there are werewolves in TSC canon... ok, sure). He's with Fluffy in the fake Santaville I guess, but whatevs

I forgot until I realized I took a picture of it, the line from Carol about leaving her job and her life behind and not complaining about it. Like on the one hand yes, please go off queen cause you deserve so much better. But also, you've kinda been complaining about it since the 3rd movie.

Oh right, Tim Allen got to mention Jesus one last time just to make sure it got in there. I literally had to turn on the closed caption cause I was like, did he just say "The King" and sure enough he did, capital K and everything. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS ALLEN!! Like pick silly fantasy Santa show or pick something religious. IDK it irks me so much

I feel like I had more to ramble about but I'm tired just from having to remember all of this from last night, lol. Just needed to get this junk outta my head. Honestly, very glad Jack wasn't in here to be slandered by this show. Same for the Millers. Same for Bernard again (besides in name and that dumb picture that still makes me mad) and Charlie again.

[karmilleryn]

Now that I finally got around to posting my fancasts for another fandom, I figured I should just go ahead and knock this one out as well lol (especially bc that one actually has a movie coming out, so maybe if I post this one too, it will manifest us getting a TV or movie series of this too!)

The characters that are missing are ones I haven’t come across/thought of anyone I particularly love for them yet. If I do later on, I’ll come back and update this post.

Disclaimer: This is regardless of age, height, build, hair/eye color, accent, and sexuality. While I do think that last one is important for representation, I don’t currently know of actors I think are more fitting for the parts affected by those that I know match those aspects as well (although I’m sure they’re out there, and if they get found and cast, I’ll fully support!), and this is just for fun with no intention to offend.

Neil - Froy Gutierrez (vids, which also feature some of my choices for Andrew/Aaron mentioned below, and the first one also has the song I think they should use for the opening/closing credits whether they’d be making a tv show or movie!: [x / x]) / 2nd choice - Brenton Thwaites (after seeing him in “The Giver”)

Andrew/Aaron - Freddie Fox (similar vibe to his character in Cucumber, which a lot of the clips in these vids are from: [x / x]) / 2nd choice - Dominic Sherwood (after seeing him in “Shadowhunters”) / 3rd choice - Dane DeHaan (vids: [x / x / x]) / (a vid that has the first and third both interspersed, and also features my choice for Neil mentioned above, and the song I think they should use for the opening/closing credits whether they’d be making a tv show or movie!: [x])

Matt - Reece King (as I’ve previously mentioned/pics: [x])

Dan - Alexandra Shipp (pic: [x])

Abby - Elizabeth Mitchell (similar vibe to her character in Lost) (pic: [x])

Wymack - Dwayne Johnson (I know people joke about this one a lot, but I seriously think it would be really good!) (pic: [x])

Jeremy - Skyler Gisondo (as I’ve previously mentioned: [x]) (similar vibe to his character in Bookmart: Like a lot of people, I’ve thought about him a lot even though he’s barely in the book, partially because of shipping him with Jean, and I think he’s popular and so sunny and friendly and chill like a golden retriever (lol) on the outside - vid (4:19-4:53, except people would actually like him): [x] - but he’s got a lot more layers underneath - vid (start at 0:15): [x])

Seth - Mason Gooding (similar vibe to his character in the beginning of Love, Victor [meaning before he turned nice lol]. and it’s funny bc he was in Booksmart with Skyler Gisondo!) (i even have a GIF of him looking cocky? and then concerned angry/confrontational? in a basketball an exy locker room lol): [x])

[tabloidtoc]

Entertainment Weekly, December

Cover: Wandavision -- Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany as Vision 

Page 1: Contents, Melissa Gilbert on the Little House on the Prairie Set in 1977 

Page 3: Sound Bites -- special holiday edition 

Page 4: Editor’s Note 

Page 6: The Must List -- Between the World and Me 

Page 8: The Orchard by David Hopen, Freaky 

Page 9: Chris Stapleton -- Starting Over 

Page 11: A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir, Let Them All Talk 

Page 12: Batman/Catwoman 

Page 13: Nomadland 

Page 14: Soul, December Games -- Marvel’s Spider-man: Miles Morales, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, Immortals Fenyx Rising 

Page 16: My Must List -- Kenan Thompson 

Page 19: First Take -- Bob Odenkirk in Nobody -- the Better Call Saul star plays an unlikely action here complete with a bloody good makeover in this thriller about a family man who decides to seek revenge after a break-in 

Page 21: Pedro Pascal and Christian Slater -- We Can Be Heroes 

Page 22: Cover Story -- Wandavision a wonderfully weird send-up of sitcoms of the past is Marvel’s key to the future 

Page 30: Untold Stories: Holiday Movies Edition -- an oral history of The Family Stone -- Thomas Bezucha, Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Dermot Mulroney, Tyrone Giordano, Brian White, Craig T. Nelson, Claire Danes

Page 36: Making the Scene -- The Muppet Christmas Carol -- fans of the Muppets’ 1992 take on Scrooge know a key scene is missing from the DVD version and it’s now the most beloved number ever left on the cutting-room floor, Closet Confidential -- Bridget Jones’ Diary -- Colin Firth and director Sharon Maguire reveal the secrets behind Darcy’s ugly sweater 

Page 37: The Merriest Movies Years Ever -- Jeremy Arnold the author of the TCM book Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season reveals why 1947 and 2003 were prime years for yuletide films 

Page 38: Role Call -- Mary Steenburgen -- the Oscar winner is a holiday movie MVP and here we look back at the roles that put the Mary in Christmas 

Page 39: Behind the Music -- The Preacher’s Wife -- Whitney Houston’s rousing 1996 film boasts one of the all-time great Christmas movie soundtracks and producer Mervyn Warren tells how it came together 

Page 40: Investigation: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? It’s the debate that won’t die: does Bruce Willis’ 1988 action classic also qualify as a Christmas classic? With the help of some Die Hard alums we’re ready to settle this once and for all -- Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Dermot Mulroney, Zooey Deschanel, Mean Girls -- Christmas got a bit risque in the teen film’s memorial Jingle Bell Rock talent-show performance 

Page 41: 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Love Actually -- we actually unearthed some new tidbits from writer-director Richard Curtis about the much-discussed much-beloved Christmas rom-com 

Page 43: 3 secrets from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer -- it’s aired every year since 1964 but there are still some things you don’t know about the stop-motion Christmas special, 5-minute oral history -- Elf -- you’d better scurry for the story behind the film’s Baby It’s Cold Outside shower scene by Zooey Deschanel 

Page 44: Shondaland makes its Netflix debut December 25 with the swoony Bridgerton a Regency-era drama inspired by a series of romance novels 

Page 48: The Kane maker -- David Fincher and an all-star cast inhabit Old Hollywood for Netflix’s Manx the riveting behind-the-scenes story of Citizen Kane 

Page 52: In an era of rampant reboots it’s been awfully quiet on the Prairie so EW investigates why it’s taken so long for Hollywood to return to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved town on Walnut Grove in Little House on the Prairie 

Page 57: 2020 Gift Guide 

Page 66: News + Reviews  -- It has spurred sales and served as a balm for concert-starved fans but the best by-product of Verzuz is its celebration of Black excellence 

Page 70: Movies -- from modernized classics to fresh newcomers the Hollywood musical is back in style with a new inclusive look 

Page 73: Indie’s New Queen -- with another major and wild big-screen performance in Black Bear Aubrey Plaza is emerging as an art-house icon 

Page 74: Meet Your Maker -- Alan Ball -- the Oscar and Emmy winner behind American Beauty and Six Feet Under and True Blood brings his most personal project to the screen: the road movie Uncle Frank and here Ball shares his iconic cinematic and literary inspirations 

Page 76: Comedy of My Life: Melissa McCarthy -- the Oscar nominee and Emmy winner flaunts some Superintelligence in her fourth movie directed by husband Ben Falcone 

Page 78: The Shot -- Silver Linings Playbook -- inside the creation of a classic scene 

Page 80: TV -- after years as the grounding force on The Big Bang Theory Kaley Cuoco is now flying high as The Flight Attendant at the center of a juicy murder mystery 

Page 82: Class is back in session on Peacock where Saved By the Bell revival debuts 

Page 83: The Crown 

Page 84: Small Axe 

Page 85: Q+A with Bryan Cranston -- in the limited series Your Honor the Emmy winner is breaking bad again starring as a judge whose son is involved in a hit-and-run 

Page 86: Unwrapping Christmas TV movies -- wisdom gleaned from a flurry of winters in Tinseltown 

Page 87: Role Call -- William H. Macy -- as he heads into the 11th and final season of Shameless he looks back on his most iconic projects, epic sci-fi series The Expanse is back with more cosmic chaos in season 5 

Page 89: What to Watch 

Page 96: Music -- Angus Young and Brian Johnson explain how AC/DC are back on track with a new album that honors late bandmate and brother Malcolm Young 

Page 98: Sam Smith 

Page 99: Q+A with legendary P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins sheds light on his new album and his enormous collection of top hats 

Page 101: The Playback -- Joni Mitchell Archives: Vol. 1: The Early Years -- before she became an icon Mitchell was performing at local radio stations and recording homemade demos 

Page 102: A Band You Need to Know -- Sault -- the mysterious U.K. group has dropped two timely album-of-the-year contenders, Stupid Questions with Josh Groban -- the multiplatinum-selling golden-voiced baritone returns with Harmony but can he sing his way out of this comedic jam

Page 103: Epitaph -- Eddie Van Halen 

Page 104: Books -- Ernest Cline returns with Ready Player Two the sequel to his 2011 blockbuster and 2020′s most secretive novel 

Page 106: Comedians Rachel Bloom and Michelle Buteau have new memoirs but first they chat about bullying and Dick Jones and how Julia Roberts likes her eggs 

Page 107: High Anxiety with Cazzie David -- the writer and daughter of OG angster Larry David broadcasts her own neuroses in the essay collection No One Asked for This and here shares her deepest fears 

Page 108: The weirdest year in publishing history wraps up with an all-virtual literary awards season and here we break down the titles with their eyes on the prize 

Page 110: Screenwriter and director ad novelist John Ridley offers an alternative perspective in The Other History of the DC Universe 

Page 112: The Bullseye

[in-flagrante]

Michelle Dockery on her new dog Alfie, directing, and whiskey

‘Lockdown? It was an interesting time,’ says Michelle Dockery at the start of our Covid-compliant phone conversation about acting, the pandemic and her favourite whisky.

‘It certainly became an opportunity to ponder on things that I took for granted. We were in our “bubble” and I watched TV way more than I usually do. Hugh Laurie was brilliant in Roadkill [the BBC’s political drama written by Sir David Hare]. I loved that. And I became a big fan of podcasts.’

Which one in particular?

‘Desert Island Discs.’

She was close to tears listening to the actor and director Samantha Morton on the show.

‘She was a big inspiration to me in my teens.’

Has Dockery been invited to become a castaway?

‘I would leap at the chance,’ she says. And she’s drafted her list of favourite tunes already. ‘There’ll be a lot of Joni Mitchell.’

Dockery is best known to British audiences for portraying Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey. But her origins are far from aristocratic. She was brought up in Romford in Essex. Her father was a lorry driver and her mother worked in care-homes. They were keen for their daughter to expand her interests and they enrolled her in a local dance-school.

‘It was at the end of the street where I was growing up. My mum and dad encouraged me to have confidence and I loved dancing. It was my first passion.’

She saw her future as a ballerina. At school an influential teacher, Miss Birt, was keen to develop her pupils’ interest in the theatre and she arranged a school-outing to see Helen Mirren in Antony and Cleopatra. Dockery was hooked.

‘At a very early age I realised it wasn’t actually dance I wanted to do. It was acting, taking on characters. Miss Birt encouraged me to audition for the National Youth Theatre. And I loved it.’

But things weren’t easy after leaving drama school. She describes the uncertainty of an acting career as ‘like jumping off into a very unknown abyss. I went through phases of time-off and not knowing if the next part is around the corner. I gave in to the unpredictability of it all.’

The turning point was Downton Abbey and the part of Lady Mary. After that the offers started rolling in.

‘I enjoy playing complex characters and embodying people who are very far from who I am,’

Unlike some actors, she doesn’t deliberately set out to surprise audiences with dramatic transformations.

‘I don’t plan too much. I don’t think “now I’ve done that character I need to do something completely different.”’

She’s also a gifted singer. She was invited to perform at the 50th anniversary of Ronnie Scott’s in Soho and she occasionally appears with Sadie and the Hotheads, a band formed by Elizabeth McGovern who plays her mother in Downton.

Samantha Morton, her role-model, began as an actor and branched out into directing. Would she follow that path?

‘I’ve seen enough of the way in which directors work to give it a go,’ she says. The essence of the job is ‘forming a relationship with the actors.’ Her plan would be to ‘start small and build up my experience with an episode [of a TV series].’

Could she direct a film about the life of Joni Mitchell?

‘Maybe. If she’d let me.’

She’s in no hurry to abandon her on-screen career just yet. ‘Acting is still my main course.’

When not at work she enjoys visiting Hampstead Heath where she exercises her dog, ‘a Bedlington whippet with a bit of Saluki in him’. She chose the name Alfie – ‘as in, “what’s it all about, Alfie?”’ – after the iconic 1960s movie starring Michael Caine and Shelley Winters. Her other passion is reading which she finds hard to concentrate on while acting.

‘Your head’s in the script and that’s a distraction.’

She’s also partial to the odd dram of whisky.

‘My dad’s half-Irish so whisky has featured in his life, shall we say.’

She’s proud to have been asked to front a new campaign for Glenfiddich.

‘I’m keen on their readiness to progress the perception of whisky to new audiences and, as a woman, to encourage gender inclusivity in the industry.’

The campaign images were created by Misa Harriman, a UK-born Nigerian cameraman who was the first black photographer to shoot a cover for British Vogue.

‘A photographer for our time,’ she says.

The centrepiece of the campaign is the Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23-Year-Old. This rich single-malt is matured for over two decades in American and European oak casks.

How would she take the Grand Cru – with ice, water, soda or ginger?

‘Neat,’ she says.

https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/michelle-dockery-acting-is-unpredictable-but-i-love-it/

[kristoffsloveisntfragile]

The Christmas Spirit

Rating: T

Word Count: 7,107

Pairing: Kristoff/Anna

Summary: Modern AU; It’s Christmas time and Anna and Kristoff are finally having their first Christmas together, at the Bjorgman house. This is the first time Anna really has met the whole family, in one place. Anxiety and a feeling of overwhelmed come over her, but that doesn’t stop her heart from being in love with his family. And that surely doesn’t stop Kristoff from still being in love with Anna.

Notes: IS CHRISMAS YALL!!! Hope you all enjoy! I’ve actually been working on this for literally 6 ish months, and I feel like it’s pretty perfect for how long I’ve been working on it. Again, hope you enjoy, and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to yall!

It was the holiday season and Anna and Kristoff had been dating for almost two and a half years now. Anna lived a state away from her family so this year she decided that she would do something independent for the holidays. Maybe a year away from her family wouldn’t be so bad? It didn’t hit her until later that she really had no other plans. She had the Christmas tree set up in her apartment, of course helped by Kristoff. They set it up and that night they put on a Christmas movie and decorated the tree. Their hands full of glitter and eyes burnt out from staring at the lights on the tree for too long. That was fun, but Anna didn’t formally invite anyone to hang out with her for Christmas day, so she assumed she would spend the day alone, maybe Kristoff or Elsa popping in to say hello and maybe give a gift, if they had bought one. Anna couldn’t tell if it was the maturity making her not want gifts this year, or the fact that she was spending it alone was. Either way, she didn’t really mind it, a peaceful Christmas this year is what she needs. At least she thinks.

“So what are you exactly doing for Christmas?” Kristoff asks after he washed down his bagel with his coffee. They get breakfast together at a local coffee shop at least 3-4 times a week before work.

This perked up Anna, usually as they wait for their food they catch each other up and when they finally sit down to eat they plow it down, not really any talk to be had, they just want to fill up their stomach to get through the day so they can hopefully see each other after work.

“Oh, nothing. I think this year I’ll have a peaceful Christmas day to myself. I mean, if you want to come by and stay for a while, I wouldn’t mind.” She sipped her coffee as she finished her statement.

Kristoff was confused as ever, “A...peaceful...Christmas...day? Where is Anna and what have you done with her?” This made Anna smile. Yeah, she knew it wasn’t like her, but it was like this fresh wave of maturity was washing over her. “I’ve never heard you put those kinds of words together. You’re really not going to do anything on Christmas?”

“Well, Christmas doesn’t have to be chaotic. It is named ‘the most peaceful time of year’ for a reason.”

“Well, you’ve never been with my family around Christmas. We like to go all out.” Kristoff leaned back in his chair. Then got that look on his face, Anna knew that look, he was getting an idea.

“Hey, why don’t you come over with me to my parents for Christmas!” Kristoff looked excited.

“Really? Won’t like, all of your family be there? I’ve never really seen all of your siblings in person. Of course, except Roxanne.” Anna said.

Roxanne was the third oldest, behind Kristoff by 8 years, a senior in high school, smart kid, does well in school, but liked to kind of do whatever she wanted. So when Anna would have the occasional dinner with Kristoff’s parents, she would see Roxanne come out of her room with her car keys and say to her family “See ya, I’ll be back at midnight.” And her family wouldn’t really bat an eye, Kristoff would just say the usual, “Don’t do anything I haven’t done!” and continue the dinner conversation.

“Well yeah, so this time you’ll finally get to meet all of them. And probably some of my grandparents too. You’ve made quite the impression to my family.” Kristoff raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve talked about me?” Anna asked.

“Are you kidding? Of course I have. They all love you out of the description I tell them.”

Anna, now curious, leaned forward and said, “What do you say?”

Kristoff leaned forward too and said, “Well, I describe you as the perfect woman in the world. With the most amazing color of hair, paired with the most indescribable color of eyes that just somehow match,” Kristoff had taken her hand, and Anna sighed, loving what she’s hearing. “I think they think you’re smaller than I described but I can’t tell.” She laughs. “And...there’s just so much about you that I’ve described to them. Like all the sweet things we do that make me love you even more...like that thing we tried last month.”

Anna swiped her hand away and swatted at his shoulder, “I’m kidding!” He remarked. “Most of them don’t understand...you know.” Anna knew he was kidding. But still.

They ate most of the rest of their food, and Kristoff looked up and said, “Sooo.. was that a yes?”

“Hm?” Anna hummed with a mouth full of food.

“You know, my offer? You just kind of let the conversation drop after I said that my family loves you. So?” Kristoff crumpled up his bagel wrapper.

Anna had been thinking about it since the moment the words left his mouth. Her mind was already set on staying home and drinking all the hot chocolate she could and watching all the Christmas movies she had. But, it couldn’t hurt to change her plans, especially if it was for her boyfriend.

“You know what? Sure, I’d love to. Nothing I would rather do.” Anna said and wrapped up her garbage as well. They got up and threw their stuff away, stepped outside the coffee shop, pecked each other on the lips and went their separate ways to their work for the day.

~~~

A week later, it was Christmas. Dinner at the Bjorgman family was happening around 7, but since the family liked to spend time together, especially around the holidays, the “party” was happening all day. Kristoff was picking up Anna around 5 though. Anna was getting ready, not too dressy, but not too looking like she didn’t want to be there. A classic casual blouse, leather jacket, jeans, and knee high boots. She looked in the mirror and decided she needed some jewelry. Dainty bracelets and necklaces worked. She then saw her pajamas that were strone across her bed. Part of her wished she could change back into them and just curl up on the couch. But the fact that she was spending Christmas day with her boyfriend, who she loved very much, and is now meeting the rest of his family, she couldn’t be happier.

She waited in her living room for a text or call from Kristoff, and was watching ‘The Santa Clause 2’ with Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell. It was nearing the end of the movie, it was her favorite part. When Santa, or Scott Calvin as his real name, finally gets back to the North Pole but before he makes his round to drop off gifts to every child in the world, he has to marry the one he loves. Although rushed, Anna loves how sincere they still were in their vows, and they weren’t just marrying each other because he needed to be Santa Claus. They had a real deep connection.

Her phone chimed and it got her out of her trance. The text read, “Outside babe.” She turned off her TV, and made sure everything was off and locked and met him outside in his car.

She hopped in the car with a big smile on her face, with a quick ‘hey’ and put her seatbelt on.

“My, my. Aren’t you a giddy one?” Kristoff remarked.

“What? I’m not allowed to be happy to be meeting the rest of my boyfriend’s family?” She leaned towards his face, expecting a kiss anytime soon.

“No, it’s just...I’m happy you’re happy.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. And then they drove off to the Bjorgman household.

~~~

They pulled up to the household and Anna saw all of the cars that filled up the driveway and even spilling out to the sidewalk.

‘Lot of people then..’ Anna thought, and bit her lip. She got out of the car and Kristoff was getting a couple things from the back, Anna went around to see if he needed help.

“I think I’m good…” Kristoff said with his hands full of presents. “Oh, wait, can you grab those little boxes? On the floor?” Anna did as she was asked, and then shut the car door. 

“So like, are all of these for the kids?” Anna asked as they were walking towards the house.

“Yep, just a little warning, I think there are more kids than you’ve imagined. Yes I have my younger siblings, but my aunts and uncles also have kids and they’re here too.”

“Wow...seems like the Bjorgman’s are...busy.”

“Ohhhh, yeah” Kristoff stretched out, laughing at the end of it, so did Anna. “Oh, since this was kind of last minute, I did put your name on the “From:” part of the tag on the presents, so people would think that you were, you know, nice enough to think of the kids.”

“Hey, I would’ve gotten stuff if you had said something. It completely slipped my mind to get stuff for them...but thank you for doing that anyway.” Anna giggled.

As they approached the door, Kristoff warned Anna about the second step, as it always seems to get slippery every year. Anna then rang the doorbell, but not long after someone was at the door. Bulda, with a very big smile and 3 kids attached to her.

“Anna! Oh my dear it’s so good to see you!! I’m so glad you came!” She gave Anna a very big and tight hug. Then went to Kristoff and took the huge amount of presents out of his hands and went into the other room. It wasn’t long before his hands were full again with the kids that tagged along with Bulda.

“Hey guys, hey look, look. There’s someone I want you to meet. This is Anna.” He was crouched down to their level, but looking up at Anna. Anna then crouched down too.

“Nice to meet you guys. What’s all your names?” Anna asked.

“I’m Maxine.” Maxine said proudly.

“I’m Jake.” Jake said.

“I-I’m D-D-Daisy-y.” Daisy, the youngest, managed to get out.

“She’s just learning how to talk. But I’m so proud you know how to say your own name!” Kristoff looked at Daisy and hugged her as she giggled.

“You’re really pretty Anna.” Jake said.

“Oh! Why thank you.” Anna was flattered, since she knew that kids told the truth most of the time.

“Okay kids, go play, I think Uncle Mike has a game of musical chairs going for the younglings.” Bulda peaked their interest, and they all ran off towards a different part of the house. Anna and Kristoff got up to see Bulda again, and she was already going in for a hug with her son. “Hello dear so good to see you. Was the drive okay?”

“Ah, it was okay. As long as I had my girl along my side, it was never boring.” Kristoff remarked.

“Yes, while it was a good drive, it did seem long and I drank a whole bottle of water, so if you don’t mind I’m just gonna use the bathroom.” Anna excused herself.

“Oh by all means!” Bulda said as she took off.

Kristoff started walking towards all the people before he was pulled by the sleeve by his mother. 

“Well, is tonight the night?” She asked.

“Look, ma, I don’t know honestly. Yes, I very much want to do it, but I think she’s a little overwhelmed by all the people. We are a big family. If I’m going to do it tonight, I don’t think it’s going to be here.” Kristoff said, in a hushed tone.

“Okay, okay. I’m just so excited!” Bulda started to get worked up.

“Ok, shh, ma, you’re starting to jump, think about your ankle.” Bulda looked at it and brushed it off, and then Kristoff went back to what he was going to do, see the rest of his family.

~~~

A little time has passed, Anna met all the kids (she thinks- there’s just so many of them) and met and talked to a majority of the adults, with the same story of where she works and ‘why the hell do you like this troublemaker of a kid?��-Kristoff. 

She found herself with a small glass of champagne and was standing by the sink talking to Roxanne. She found a little comfort in talking to her. She wasn’t completely new to Anna, but there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other.

“So, anything new at school happening?” Anna asked

“Wow, what a new question everyone hasn’t asked me yet.” Roxanne joked, but there was a hint of truth behind it.

“Oh sorry, I mean no offense but what else is there to ask an 18 year old. It’s your senior year, you should be having fun, making memories. We all wanna hear about your experience, and be there for you during the big moments.”

“Yeah, well nothing is really happening, not until the new year hits anyways, all the interesting sports start in the spring, the musicals, testing, dances, etc.” 

“Yeah, I hear you. So there’s really nothing else going on for you?” 

Roxanne shook her head, “No, nothing much.” But she looked at her feet. Anna knew exactly what that meant, she even does it herself. She was hiding something.

“So there is something new.”

Looking up, Roxanne was kinda shocked, “How did you know?”

“I’m a girl just like you, the subtle hints you just gave, I’ve done them before. What’s up, you can trust me you know.”

Roxanne breathed in, and turned to really face Anna. “Well, it is my senior year, and..I’ve never really had a relationship.”

Anna knew exactly what she was getting into with this conversation. “Oh I see, and, is there someone you’re interested in?”

“Well, the thing is, I’m bi, so I’ve had crushes come and go. I’ll see someone who is interesting or cute, but I’ll get scared because, well if it’s a girl, what if they don’t have the same interests as me, and if it’s a guy, well...you know.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a whole ordeal. The only thing I can say, in your situation, it seems best for you to make a friend first, and then see if they would like to take things further. You shouldn’t have to feel like you’re rushed to find someone. When you know, you know.” Her gaze wandered over to Kristoff who wasn’t far from them.

“Is that how you felt with my brother?” Roxanne smiled.

“Oh yeah. I mean, before we started dating, you heard tale of me right?” Roxanne nodded. “So yeah, we met, became friends, and from there we found something. And look at us now.” Anna smiled. 

Roxanne looked down, still having a smile on her face. “Yeah, you guys do have something special. I feel like you’re the hot topic tonight to be honest.”

“Really? Me?” Anna asked.

“Oh yeah, are you kidding? Kristoff doesn’t stop talking about you when he’s over, the only time that does come to a halt is when you are over too for a dinner or something. But since everyone is here, I don’t know, I feel like you’re just an easy topic for Kristoff and the family to talk about.” Roxanne explained.

Kristoff came over and cut between them, as they were still at the sink. He rinsed a glass he had and set it in the sink, and while he was, he said, “Hey, my two favorite girls.” He stepped back and instinctively put his arm around Anna. “What are y’all talking about?”

“Oh nothing, just, girl stuff.” Anna said, looking up at him with admiration.

“Yep, so no boy can hear it.” Roxanne teased. 

“Ah, I see. Well, no matter, how are you enjoying the night?” Kristoff asked, but mostly to Anna.

“I’m doing fine, your family is really friendly, it’s nice knowing that I don’t have to put up a fake persona for them.” Anna said.

“Of course, our family loves people for who they are. Unless they’re clearly a douche.” He chuckled.

“Well, there is one person who puts on a “fake persona” once a year for the-” Roxanne started to say.

“Shhhhhhh” Kristoff cut her off.

“What? What are you talking about?” Anna was confused and curious.

“It’s nothing.”

“But you’ll find out later.” Roxanne whispered to Anna, all giddy.

Anna was still confused, but she trusted Roxanne’s word that she’ll find out later.

“We should head into the living room soon, the Yankee Swap will start soon and with how many people are here, there won’t be many seats that are on cushion.”

“Good call.” Roxanne said and started heading towards the living room. Anna and Kristoff soon  followed.

A few minutes later, Kristoff’s mom turned down the Christmas music, and got everyone into the room, she got the room to quiet down.

“Okay everyone time to start the swap! Now, I asked everyone to put all of the gifts in the other room, so Derek can you go get them?” Derek nodded and got up to go to the other room.

“Actually before we start I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Kristoff said and got up.

“Okay, just so you know you might get a bad number for the picking!” Bulda joked.

Shortly after, Derek came back with a big bag full of the swap gifts. He started to take them out of the bag when Bulda started to explain what the rules were.

“So, the rules are simple. We are going to pick a number out of this hat,” She grabs a hat full of numbers. “And just go in order. You can pick any gift, and once you get it you open it. And if you’re in the later numbers and you pick a gift but you want something someone has who went before you, you have to battle them! That’s my twist to the game, to battle them, you must play a quick game of charades!!!” Everyone was either a little more intrigued, or groaned how boring they thought that game was.

“To actually win, if the person you want to battle doesn’t get your word or phrase or whatever it is, you can get their gift. But if the person gets the word right, they don’t give up the gift. Everyone got it?” Bulda finishes.

As she finishes, Derek is finishing up with placing the gifts near the tree. 

“Hmm, Derek are you sure that’s all the gifts?” Bulda puts on a voice. And loud enough for the next three rooms to hear.

“What do you mean? There’s more???” Jake asked with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice.

“Oh yes, I know there is. I wonder where they all went though…”

Just as Bulda says that, Anna hears Roxanne snicker. She’s again confused, but just then, she sees a big red blur come through the threshold. A big resounding “Ho Ho Ho!” followed. Anna knew immediately it was Kristoff, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her boyfriend with a fat suit and probably a 3x large red, furry jacket. She started laughing with Roxanne, and most of the adults who also knew it was Kristoff. The kids on the other hand, lost their minds. As for them, Santa was in the house, the night before Christmas.

So many, “OH MY GOD IT’S SANTA!” and, “I CAN’T BELIEVE MY EYES” and just screaming for joy in general.

“Hello kids, yes it’s me Santa, I wanted to come by before I start my rounds and give you the first presents before any other kid in the world gets theirs.”

“Wow thanks Santa!” One of the kids said. 

Anna couldn’t help but laugh, as she had never heard the voice that Kristoff was putting on. But she held it in as best as she could, so she wouldn’t ruin it for the kids.

“Don’t worry, if you come back every year, you’ll be able to suppress the laugh. But it will still be hilarious, but you’ll be able to put on a fake ‘oh my God, wow’ smile.” Roxanne leaned over to Anna and whispered. 

“How long has he been doing this?” Anna asked.

“Since, he was like 16. He grew drastically like when he was 13 or 14. By 16 he was like 3 inches shorter than he is now. So he could pass for it. Our dad used to do this, but both he and Kristoff knew that at one point he was gonna have to stop at one point, so he took over. He loves doing it though.” Roxanne explained.

“Wow. He never said anything about it. And we know almost everything about each other.” Anna remarked.

“Maybe he wanted to surprise you.” Roxanne said.

They went back to watching Kristoff play Santa to his younger brothers and sisters, and some of his nieces and nephews. He really did look like he was enjoying it, bringing joy to them seemed to instantly put a smile on his face, and his soul. Anna loved seeing him so happy that he was making his family happy. 

“So here’s all the presents for you kids-” ‘Santa’ started to say,

“But, we’ll all have to wait for the Yankee Swap to be over, then you can open them. But for now, Santa has to go, say goodbye kids.” Bulda says.

All of the kids yelled “Goodbyee!!” and as Kristoff was kneeling to pull the gifts out of the bag he brought in, some kids ran over to hug him before he left.

“Okay children, I’ve really got to get back to the sleigh and start delivering the rest of the presents. Merry Christmas to all!”

“AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!” All of the kids screamed back. 

Anna thought to herself, besides Kristoff dressing up as Santa, that was also a tradition they had. She saw as he left, and all the kids were still buzzing about it.

“Okay, okay kids settle, if you wanna open your presents you gotta play this game first.” They all quieted down, but still a little joy left in their eyes.

As Bulda was going around the room letting people pick their numbers, Kristoff came back, and immediately the kids said “Kristoff you missed it! Santa was just here! Look at how many presents he gave us!”

“My Kristoff, you were in the bathroom for a long time that you missed Santa!” Bulda exaggerated. 

“Oh well, maybe next year I’ll catch him.” Kristoff said as he was heading back to his seat next to Anna.

“And who knows, maybe he’ll bring a certain Mrs-”

“Shhh.” Kristoff hissed at his mom. Bulda returned to passing out numbers. Kristoff had looked back to see if Anna had caught that, but he doesn’t think she did, because Anna couldn’t stop smiling at Kristoff, and he raised a brow and asked, “What?”

“Oh nothing, it was just really special seeing Santa here tonight.” Anna said through a smile.

“What are you talking about?” Kristoff smiled, playing along with the joke.

Anna laughed, “Nothing.” Neither one of them really knew what the context of that conversation was, but they were just both so happy with the buzz that they felt between them and the buzz that was in the room. Anna knew right then and there that she didn’t regret coming to the party tonight. Kristoff quickly kissed her cheek and returned to the game that was starting.

~~~

The game and the present opening seemed to happen so fast that it was all blurry to Anna. In a good way though, there was so much laughter from the charade portions, and all the jokes, and the kids, and the fact that she couldn’t get the image of ‘Santa Kris’ out of her head. They could all tell that the party was coming to an end. All the kids were asking where the desserts were, so they were occupied eating those, the adults were getting their kids presents or their own gifts they got, all packed up and ready to go to the car, and all the food was being portioned to be taken home, since there was way too much to keep at Buldas house. 

Anna was nursing another glass of champagne and talking to some of Kristoff’s relatives when Kristoff came over and, again, instinctively wrapped his arm around her.

“You ready to go babe?” 

“Aweeee, do we have to? It feels like we just got here 10 minutes ago!” Anna whined, but deep inside of her she wanted to go home and snuggle up next to Kristoff while watching more Christmas movies.

“Ah, we don’t wanna burden my mom by staying here.” Kristoff glanced over at his mom who was finishing up with giving some food to Kristoff’s cousin as they were leaving. His mom must’ve caught the end of that because she looked over and came over.

“Oh, are you guys leaving soon? I can pack up some stuff for ya if you want!” Bulda said.

“Thanks, but we won’t need a lot like your packing with everyone else-”

“Maybe just the desserts and some of the pasta would be good for us to take.” Anna finished Kristoff’s sentence, then laughed.

“Honestly, if you took as many desserts as you wanted there would still be enough for everyone else to take some home. I may have made a little too much for today.” Bulda exclaimed.

“No, no don’t worry, we’re more than happy to take those desserts off of your hands!” Anna laughed again, intending some kind of joke, but in actuality, she was eyeing the cheesecake she’s already had two big slices of.

“Oh then by all means, I’ll pack some stuff up for you.” Bulda turned around and went to work.

“You know I was trying to get her to not pack as much food for us to take home. She’s a busy woman enough as it is.” Kristoff said to Anna in a hushed voice.

“Well, it’s not like she’s complaining, I mean sure it is busy work, but it’s Christmas, is it really hard work if you enjoy it?” Anna questioned back. Kristoff gave her a look of defeat, but still worry behind his eyes. Anna knew what to do.

“I’ll go help her then, some one-on-one wouldn’t hurt our relationship right?” Anna handed her champagne to him and walked towards Bulda.

“Hey there, do you want some help packing up the food and stuff?” Anna asked.

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t wanna burden you by helping me.” Bulda brushed away Anna, but she wouldn’t back down.

“Oh come on, I insist. Plus, didn’t I hear something about your ankle? You could use a break, or at least some help.”

Bulda gave in, almost like she even forgot about her ankle hurting. “Oh sure, what’s the harm of you helping, right?” She laughed, “Just take some of these buckets, and follow me.” Anna did as she was told.

Anna followed her to the dining room where some of the food was kept, but mostly the desserts. 

“Wow, I honestly forgot how many there were.” Anna remarked.

“Yeah, like I said, I may have made too much. But I guess I say that every year, and everyone goes home happy. That’s what really matters to me.” Bulda said with a smile.

“That’s really sweet.” Anna said, her heart melting a bit at what Bulda just said.

They packed up some sweets while chit-chatting a bit, they eventually got the topic of Kristoff.

“Oh I couldn’t stop laughing when he came out.” Anna said.

“Oh, imagine me, the first time he did it after Pabbie stopped, I couldn’t stop laughing. It was just so funny seeing a 16 year-old do that.”

“Wow, he must’ve been really tall to pull that off.”

“Oh yeah, the summer before 9th grade, poof, grew a foot and became 6 ft. No idea what happened to this day. But it added to his character.”

“Oh yeah it did.” Anna laughed. “Probably one of the first thoughts that came across my mind when I first even glanced at him was ‘Wow look how tall he is.’ Of course, that’s coming from me, 5’2” here.” Anna laughed some more.

“Awe, well you two fit perfectly together. The height difference just makes it look even cuter.”

“Yeah..” Anna got lost in her thoughts for a second. 

“You two are really happy together.” Bulda admired Anna’s look of loss in thought.

“Oh yeah.” Anna blushed a little. After all she was still talking to Kristoff’s mother.

“You know, Kristoff told me…..Oh no, I shouldn’t tell you.” Bulda waved her hand and went back to finishing up all the packed up desserts.

“Oh well you gotta tell me now!” Anna laughed.

“No, no, I’m sure it’s gonna happen...soon?”

“What do you mean?” Anna asked, confused as ever.

Just then Kristoff poked his head in the dining room to say, “Hey, I just went to warm up the car, so whenever you’re ready.” He smiled.

“Oh we just finished dear, just a little catching up.” Bulda said. It wasn’t a lie, but Anna still felt there was something unsaid.

Bulda turned back to Anna and said, “Just, remember how happy you are with Kristoff.”

“Of course I won’t. I never will. But what did you mean-”

“I’ve said too much, if I say anymore Kristoff will kill me. Just, enjoy the rest of your night dear.” Bulda said, putting a hand on Anna’s arm.

Anna and Kristoff took all of the food that she really wanted, Kristoff and Anna said their goodbyes and gave their hugs to everyone who was left. They made it through the dropping temperatures outside into the warmed up car, and started their drive home.

But Anna couldn’t help but question what Bulda meant by “It’s gonna happen soon”. Anna couldn’t think of anything important coming up. With Christmas tomorrow, and New Years in about a week, there was nothing else of importance going on. She looked over to Kristoff and tried to think if there was anything coming up for him. She couldn’t.

Kristoff noticed she was staring. “What’s up babe?” His eyes went back to the road.

“Nothing, nothing, just….is there anything important coming up?”

“...You mean something other than Christmas?” He laughs at his own little joke. “No, why?”

Anna wanted to say because Bulda had said something was gonna happen, but then remembered her saying “If Kristoff found out he would kill me”. Is it something Anna is supposed to know, and he isn’t? Or the other way around?

“Oh, I don’t know, it just seems like there’s something I’m supposed to do. Maybe it’s something for work.” Anna said.

“Well, you got a whole week off, it can’t be that important.” Kristoff reached for Anna’s hand and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb mindlessly.

Anna smiled. Of course she lied about the thing being for work, but she decided maybe it was good to forget about it. Whatever the thing is Bulda talked about, it will happen when it happens.

~~~

After the long drive, they head to Anna’s place, they both take off their boots and sweaters, Anna takes off all the jewelry on her body, and heads to her room to put it all away, Kristoff not far behind her. 

Anna was standing in front of her vanity, sorting everything away when Kristoff slithers his arms around Anna and just hugs her. “Finally, no relatives or younger siblings to interrupt our alone time.”

Anna huffed and smiled. “Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about just coming back here and relaxing all night. Well, maybe not the whole night,” Anna turned around while still in his arms, “Tonight was pretty fun with your family.”

“I get it. Being there is fun, but sitting on the couch watching movies and drinking hot chocolate in the dark. Sounds exhilarating.” Kristoff smiled, then leaned in for a kiss.

Anna liked the idea of that, but she wanted to be comfortable. When they parted, she said “I like that, let me just go wash everything off.” She got out of his arms and headed to the bathroom.

She washed her makeup off, cleansed her face, brushed her teeth, and went back to her bedroom- which she had then found that Kristoff had changed out of his day clothes (she had some clothes that were Kristoff’s left behind here for nights like this), She switched to her pjs and found that Kristoff had everything set up for Anna to just snuggle in with Kristoff. The movie, the drinks, the blankets, the apartment just being lit by the very dim hallway light.

“Wow, how long was I in the bathroom?” Anna asked jokingly.

“You weren’t gone long, I just work very fast.” Kristoff said, inviting Anna onto the couch with his eyes, which she gladly accepted. Kristoff went ahead and put on The Santa Clause 2, the movie Anna was watching before she left. She didn’t say that out loud, she didn’t mind that she was watching this movie again. She was just happy Kristoff was around this time. 

~Near the end of the movie~

Anna’s body was practically glued against Kristoff’s, her ear hearing his heartbeat, and her upper body moving along with his breaths.

They got to the part that Anna was watching before Kristoff picked her up to go to the party. When Santa needs to marry Carol before taking off for the night. She just loved the scene. 

“You know before you came to pick me up I was watching this movie, really just having it in the background, and this is the scene that I saw right before you arrived.” Anna said. They always just said what was on their minds a lot of the time. 

“Hmm.” Kristoff hummed. Anna just thought that he was starting to fade because of the warm drinks, the dim lights. But really, Anna had no idea that he was just choked up on what he wanted to do next.

It was the scene where Mother Nature had pronounced them ‘Man and Wife’, they kissed, and Scott Calvin once again became the one and only Santa Claus.

Anna hummed against Kristoff’s chest, “Man I just love this movie.” Anna tried to snuggle deeper into Kristoff more. 

He laughed, “Yep. I would’ve enjoyed it a little more if I didn’t have to fricken pee in the second half,” Kristoff started to laugh, and Anna joined, but mostly started to get up so he could move. “But it was just too comfortable and relaxing that I could wait. But I’ll be back and we’ll put on the next one.” Kristoff pecked Anna on the lips and went to the bathroom. 

Anna was smiling. She just loved the nights like this. It doesn’t even have to be Christmas for them to have a night where they just watch movies and drink hot chocolate. It was just more special tonight because it was Christmas, and they were spending it together. 

Anna decided to just get the next movie going so that they can start when Kristoff comes back. She went to put their mugs in the kitchen, she didn’t think they were gonna have any more, so she just grabbed some water instead for both of them to have. By the time she gets back into the living room, Kristoff is coming out of the bathroom. 

Anna looks up and sees that he looks a little zoned out. Confused, she asks, “Everything okay? You seem a little...unfocused.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking about somethings.” He said and sat down on the couch, not laying where he was before.

“What kinds of things?” Anna trying to lighten the mood, (she thinks that is what needed to be done) she leans closer to Kristoff, putting her hand near his chest.

“It’s just-- nah it’s stupid, forget about it.” Kristoff tries to laugh it off, but Anna won’t let go.

“Well obviously it’s something. C’mon, you can tell me anything.” Anna pleaded in her own cute way.

Kristoff was hesitant, looking back and forth between Anna and his hands. He took a deep breath as he was about to reveal what felt like a lot to him.

“Look, Anna, you know I love you, so very much,” Anna started to get nervous. Why would he be saying that now? “And, I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been thinking about the future.” Oh thank God.

“Really?” Anna couldn’t contain her grin. Just hearing the word “future” come out of his mouth, made her giddy. The fact that when he says it and she’s there with him in his mind's eye, made her happy.

“Yeah, but, lately, I just feel as though...I’m not...not good enough.” He struggled to get through the sentence, because while he did think it, it was hard to admit it out loud.

Anna was taken back from this. Her mind instantly flashed to all the times when Kristoff took care of Anna when she was sick, when she was having an anxiety attack, or when she even needed a hug or a kiss. And then she thought about all the times she saw him take care of her sister, Elsa. Sure, they weren’t super close, but if Elsa needed something and Kristoff could do it, he did it. Her mind flashed to all the memories of when Kristoff was there for his family, heck, some moments from the party flashed across her eyes. Anna was very confused and honestly a little hurt from thinking that Kristoff wasn’t good enough.

“What...the hell are you talking about?” Some seriousness in her voice, but she couldn’t help but have a bit of a smirk at the edge of her lip.

“Huh?” Kristoff was now confused.

“You think you’re not good enough? First of all, very vague, you’re good at your job, you’re good at being a boyfriend, you’re good at being a son, a brother, a cousin, hell even a damn human being. You are a good one- no! You’re a great human being Kristoff.” Anna was talking like a motivational speaker, and Kristoff couldn’t help but smile, from mostly being told that he was a great person. I mean, how would you react?

“Kristoff, I don’t know what thing you have going inside your head to make you think that you’re not good enough. Tonight alone showed how much you’re an amazing human being. If anyone ever tells you otherwise, point them in my direction….and I will gladly punch them in the face.” Kristoff officially laughed at that part.

“Well, okay, I don’t think we need to go that far-”

“No I’m serious!” Anna said, still with a smile on her face. “I will do it if anyone says that to you ever.”

Kristoff looked deep into her eyes. He could tell that she meant it. And forever will. “That’s so good to know.” Kristoff still had a look of nervousness. But he pushed it away with a smile, and lunged toward Anna for a kiss. She gladly accepted it.

She was about to fully be on top of Kristoff (to enjoy the moment even more), but Kristoff started to move away. Anna broke the kiss as she could start to tell what he was moving away.

“Wh-what are you….” Anna was confused as to where he was going, until she saw he wasn’t going far. He was on one knee, and slowly but surely pulled a ring from his pocket. “Woah, woah-” Anna suddenly lost her voice. She didn’t have the words.

“Anna, it’s so glad to hear you say that all about ‘how great a human being’ I am. But honestly, I’m the one who’s with an extraordinary human being.” Anna started to tear up. “I love you with all I am,” He opened up the box, “Will you marry me?”

Anna barely let a breath in between before she jumped onto him screaming, “YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes!” She felt him catch her as she was basically on the floor with him too. “Oh my gosh!” She pulled back, looked at him and couldn’t contain her excitement as she went to kiss him all over his face.

Kristoff couldn’t stop laughing out of happiness, and just let her excitement run wild. When she pulled back once again, he finally got a chance to get her left hand, and slip the ring on it.

“Oh my gosh, Kristoff it’s beautiful!” She said while admiring it. “This must’ve been a lot, how long have you been wanting to do this?” She asked.

“Well, the idea has been poking around for about a year and a couple months,” Anna breathed out a laugh. “But I didn’t officially buy the ring until like a month and a half ago.”

Then she put the pieces together. If he’s been wanting to do this for well over a year, he must’ve been telling his family he’s been wanting to. 

So that’s why earlier Bulda said ‘If I say anymore Kristoff will kill me’ Anna thought.

“...Did you tell your family about that? Because now that I think about it they’ve been dropping hints all night.”

“To be fair they’ve been dropping hints the whole time. Tonight was probably more than ever because I had said something about wanting to do it tonight, maybe even tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m very glad you did it tonight.” Anna wrapped her arms around Kristoff’s neck and went in for a long and heartwarming kiss. Anna felt his hands come up around her waist.

At one point they got back up on the couch, but it was all in the blur of kisses, hugs and snuggles. Putting on the next movie, that they barely paid attention to, tangled in each other's arms.

“Hey, when you said you were thinking about the future,” Anna heard Kristoff hum, “Were you...I don’t know...thinking about another family….one that….we can start?” Anna tried her best to turn her head to see Kristoff’s reaction.

His eyes were wide, but she could see that there was a hint of promise. “Hmmmm…..maybe we’ll talk about that in the New Year.” Kristoff smiled, but the thought definitely didn’t leave his mind for a while.

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Reflecting on Agents of SHIELD

So here we are at the end of 7 years. I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the show. There are times when I really haven’t liked the show and there are times when I have loved the show. Unlike many fans in the fandom, I don’t think its a perfect show. It has had more than a few missteps along the way. But it deserves credit on the things it has done right.

I remember the excitement when I hopped on board for season 1. Just coming off Avengers, this was supposed to be the tv spinoff where a whole world of exciting things were supposed to happen, interlinked with the movies. Turns out, it was a huge mistake to market the show like that. Thinking about it know, the potential challenges of that working out were obvious. Movies are written far before tv episodes are so doing that type of synchronization would be extremely difficult even if there weren’t tensions between the tv and movie divisions. In any case, season 1 was a clear case of a show treading water. The first 2/3 of the season was truly dull, barring a few good ones likes F.Z.Z.T. It wasn’t till T.R.A.C.K.S that the show started to find its footing with any sort of quality. The cast also seemed to be getting a handle on things. Clark Gregg smoothly transitioned without a problem as a lead but initially Ward was too blank a slate to really connect to, Skye was really annoying, FitzSimmons were just a bickering couple, and May was just the deadpan badass stereotype. But slowly the actors started to get a handle on things. The first sign of Elizabeth’s talent could be seen in F.Z.Z.T. Ming Na and Brett Dalton started to find more tinges of humanity in their characterizations. Iain really started to open out towards the end of the season and delivered what is still one of the most powerful scenes of the show in his confession to Simmons under water. I will be honest and say that Chloe wasn’t very good initially. It was partly the character and partly that the others seemed significantly better at the dramatic beats. The big Hydra twist gave Brett Dalton a huge boost as a performer. Its as if his handcuffs were taken off and he was suddenly freed and he became the most interesting character on the show for me. The Hydra plot of season 1 may still be the best story arc the show did, rivaled only by the Framework arc. I still don’t know which I rank higher, but that arc was the height of fulfillment that we got from the premise as originally pitched to the fans where the show synchronized with the movie story very well. And it was really the last time it happened. While most of season 1 was unfortunately handicapped, the final arc ended the season on a high which left me with great anticipation for what was next.

As we started second season, the thing that immediately struck me was that the show had completely changed. What again struck me was how Iain and Brett had really become the MVP’s of the show for me. Iain was heartwrenchingly brilliant in the first half of season 2. Again, one of the scenes of the show for me is when Fitz finds Ward in the basement. Brett and especially Iain just acted the hell out of that scene. The story arc of SHIELD vs Hydra was always one of the strong points of the show. That’s where the strength of season 2 lies. They played on the toxic Ward/Skye dynamic really well in those interactions in the basement. Brett really found the perfect balance of creepiness and sincerity in those scenes. In the midst of it all, we got some new additions in Bobbi, Hunter, Mack, and Kyle Machlachlan as Skye’s father and the transformation from Skye to Daisy happened. Honestly, Kyle was the highlight of the new additions in the season. He was there throughout and was kind of the emotional heartbeat of Skye/Daisy’s story in season 2. I wasn’t a huge fan of Mack in season 2. He had this passive aggressiveness towards anyone who wasn’t Fitz. I liked his dynamic with Fitz. Definitely the FitzSimmons stuff was hard to watch with it being so heartbreaking. Little did we know how much more there was to come. Bobbi and Hunter I was largely indifferent to. Bobbi was a badass and Adrianne Palicki is gorgeous but I never got overly invested in her. Hunter was hilarious at times and sometimes annoying. I liked how he was with Fitz. I felt Iain brought out the best in everyone this season. I wasn’t a huge fan of the second half of the season. I think the whole SHIELD vs Real SHIELD arc was pretty dumb and even the Inhumans story could have been better executed. Also, they took a wrong turn with Ward by the end of season 2. They had real potential with Ward being a wild card character who could be on hero’s side or villain’s side depending what benefits him, but instead they made him pure villain by season end.

Season 3 started off ok. Again, Iain was heartwrenching in the season premiere and Elizabeth turned up in full form in her solo outing. I honestly did not care about the whole Will drama. It felt very soap operaish for them to use this to create a love triangle which actually goes nowhere. Again, I felt they didn’t do enough with Ward even though Brett Dalton gave it is all. Certainly it was the most straight up villainous version of the character. Powers Boothe came in and did a great job with all his gravitas as a Hydra leader. It was in season 3 I started feeling Chloe Bennet started stepping up to the plate. In all fairness, one of my issues with some of the initial seasons were that it was so heavily Skye/Daisy dependent and everyone else felt more interesting to follow than her. This season allowed Ming Na and Clark Gregg to show some shades of regret and anger respectively. I was annoyed when they killed Ward because of wasted potential but Brett stepped up to the plate with an excellent turn as Hive. Bobbi and Hunter’s goodbye was sad though, as I said, I never got a personal attachment to those characters. One of the big misfires unfortunately was Lincoln. I have seen Luke Mitchell be compelling in other roles but Lincoln just did not work. Not as a character independently and not as a love interest for Daisy because they shared no chemistry. In a way, his death at the end felt like the writers dumping him and just admitting they didn’t know how to make the character work. We also got introduced to Yo Yo who would last the remainder of the show. It was kind of an uneven season but overall enjoyable. Didn’t reach the heights of the best parts of season 1 and 2 but maybe more consistent overall. I was really sad to say goodbye to Brett Dalton who was my second favorite cast member after Iain at this point.

Season 4 probably stands as the overall best season in terms of quality. Splitting the season into three pods really helped with the pacing with an increased amount of story. It was also the first season since season 1 where SHIELD existed as a functioning public agency and not just a bunch of agents working in secret. Robbie Reyes was incredibly badass as Ghost Rider. His pod was probably the weakest of the season but his presence overshadowed all the regular SHIELD cast members. The villain story was kind of weak but the backstory with Robbie, his thankfully platonic dynamic with Daisy, and the story of the developing technology of AIDA was fascinating. The LMD arc was better because AIDA and Radcliffe became serious legitimate and realistic threats. The acting also was top notch. The finale of this arc, Self-Control, is one of the show’s top episodes where Chloe Bennet was amazing as was Elizabeth and Iain was genuinely frightening as the LMD in the few minutes he had. But Framework just killed it. Brett Dalton coming back was wonderful. I really wished they had found a way to bring back this version to the real world. Iain delivered a seriously terrifying performance as the Doctor. Elizabeth, Chloe, Clark, Henry, Ming Na, John Hannah, and Natalia were all great. But the season’s MVP was Mallory Jansen, who played multiple iterations of the character throughout the season. My one issue with season 4 was I felt that she was built up in the finale a lot but then got taken out too easily. But overall, great season.

Season 5 is where the show kind of lost my interest. I am genuinely not a fan of the season and don’t have much to say about it. I felt it became outlandish and silly, while simultaneously becoming overly grim and morose which just didn’t work tonally for me. The acting continued to be top notch across the board. Iain continued to be a highlight all season with his breakdown episode being one of the most painful to watch. FitzSimmons wedding was lovely and kind of a welcome relief in a very dark season. Clark Gregg, Ming Na, and Chloe Bennet were excellent towards the end when playing out Coulson’s deteriorating health. Natalia also got to have some meaty story for really the first time on the show. But the budget constraints were clearly showing with the entire season being played out in the same grey halls and honestly I just never felt invested in the story. I knew the world wouldn’t end and it just became unendingly morose. Enoch was kind of the highlight in terms of humor in the season. Deke was introduced and I felt the same way as I felt about hunter. He was fun at tmes and other times annoying. The grandson revelation was kind of cool but I feel they have never done all that much with that connection. Maybe if the entire season was half a season’s plot, it would have been more palatable.

Season 6 was a minor improvement though still not great. The villains were again the big downfall of the season. I felt the show showed an inability to let go of Clark. Sarge was really not compelling and not a character that utilized his Clark Gregg’s best traits, which is his easy every man type nature. I could care less about the Shriek and Izel. We got to see May as a badass several times, which was nice but it was the space advanture that I enjoyed more. Whether it was Daisy and Simmons getting high on space mushrooms, or Enoch and Fitz being BFF’s in space, it was the show getting back to having some humor. Certainly a shorter season helped with regards to pacing. But it was still a rather unremarkable season which ended on a promising note.

Season 7 has been the best season since season 4. I feel that the first half the season was awesome. Rediscovering the fun, natural lighting, and better character interplay. Not having Fitz around was a bummer since Iain’s my fav cast member but we got the delightful surprise of Enver joining the cast as Sousa who I absolutely loved on Agent Carter. He has helped fill the void for me. Certainly has brought more than his share of humor and heart to the show. Again, the season’s weakness has been its villains. The chronicoms were initially good physical threats and certainly what they did to Mack’s parents was horrifying, but when Nathaniel Malick took over, the season has kind of stuttered for me. He just doesn’t cut it as a villain, especially for the final season. Chronicoms also don’t really cut it beyond the physical threat. The new additions of Kora and young Garrett are too last minute for me to feel any sort of threat from them. Certainly the time loop episode was amazing and the developing relationship between Daisy and Sousa has completely taken me by surprise. Its a mixture of good writing, good acting, and natural chemistry that this pairing has been something I root for, even though I loved PeggySous. But the show inexplicably got stuck in the 80′ and I really felt they should have gone through the periods to catch up to present day. Certainly the Jiaying story helped with some character reconcilliation for Daisy but I think there could have been more interesting stories had they progressed to more modern times. In any case, that leads to the finale. Hopefully the show ends on a good note. I don’t think it will be everything I want it to be because there are too many things on my wishlist, like a Ward return, which are unlikely to happen. But I hope for that its largely emotionally satisfying. Its been a good, if uneven ride. I would say its probably my second favorite Marvel show after Daredevil, but its longevity shows that it has developed a loyal core of fans. I may not get as emotional as a lot of the core fans, but it will feel weird that there will be no more Agents of SHIELD. It is the end of an era with it being the last of its brand of Marvel shows with all future marvel shows being direct movie spinoffs. I don’t anticipate we will see these characters in this form again, but who knows? Maybe someday?

Edit: My thoughts on finale

Overall, it was.... fine. I don’t know what I was expecting. I liked how the characters ended up but the whole thing felt oddly safe and a little emotionally hollow. They should have been a little braver and genuinely killed a couple of characters. Like I said earlier, there were a lot of things on my wishlist that didn’t happen, but I had kind of reconciled to that. The action was really good, but my apathy for the villains led to me being less interested in the whole story and the whole “empathy being the savior” was a little goofy for my taste. Regardless, far from the worst finale around but also not the greatest but reasonably enjoyable. Kind of like the show in a way, which makes it fitting. 

[365days365movies]

February 27, 2021: Love Actually (Part 2)

In case you hadn’t noticed by now...this movie is a lot.

I won’t dwell, and I’ll get back into All Around, but just trust me...this is a bit too much. All I know is that they packed way too much in this film, which is also somehow too long? It’s a lot, yeah? OK, first part of the Recap is right here, let’s get into the second half before I lose my nerve.

Recap (2/2)

So, good news is, Rodrigo and Sarah start dancing at the party, then start to hook up at her place! But the sad news (not bad, just sad) is that it’s interrupted by calls from her brother, Michael (Michael Fitzgerald), a very mentally ill man who lives in an asylum. Their love affair is cut short, and Sarah visits him the next day, where he lashes out at her and claims the nurses are trying to kill him, before being subdued. YIKES. Fuckin’s whiplash.

A little more sadness, as Karen’s convinced that Harry’s fallen out of love with her, having seen how he interacted with the attractive Mia at the party. That’s going to cause some friction, I’m sure. This is folllowed by Mia’s flirtations the following afternoon, which are once again accepted by Harry with no words to the contrary. He also calls her as he’s out, and he appears to be giving into the flirtation, rather than denying them. And as he’s meeting Karen for shopping! Dammit, Harry.

At the store, he buys a necklace for Mia from jewelry salesman Rufus (Rowan Atkinson!). Rufus asks is Harry wants the necklace gift-wrapped, and he agrees. And Rufus...Rufus is the best gift-wrapper of all time. Seriously, the man is a fucking ARTIST. His attention to detail is astonishing, and I love him. Harry doesn’t, as it’s taking way to long. YOU CANNOT RUSH PERFECTION, HARRY! But, yeah, it’s taking too long, and Karen shows up. Harry abandons the necklace, and poor devoted Rufus.

One week until Christmas, as holiday shenanigans take place with everybody! Jamie’s learning Portuguese for Aurélia. Colin (yeah, remember him?) is headed to America, while his roommate Tony is back to work at the film set, where Judy and Jack are being stand-ins for a myriad of sex positions, and Jack asks Judy on a date, which she accepts! A very cute couple, all things considered. They go out on a date on Christmas Eve, and the two kiss on the doorstep. They are legitimately adorable.

Colin arrives at a bar in the United States, and as soon as he orders a beer, his accent IMMEDIATELY draws the attention of Stacey, Jeannie, and Carol-Anne (Ivana Miličević, January Jones, and Elisha Cuthbert). And...IT FUCKING WORKED? These girls are all immediately into him, and invite him to stay with them at their place. However, they only have a small bed, and no couch. Not to mention the fourth girl, Harriet. But he bites the bullet, and accepts the invitation. And once he gets there, the sex proceeds in shadow. I cannot believe it worked, and it’s kind of hilarious.

Meanwhile, the jig is up for Harry. He did indeed get the necklace, and Karen finds it in his pocket before Christmas, assuming that it’s for her. However, when Christmas comes, Harry gives her a Joni Mitchell CD instead, and she realizes that the necklace was for Mia. Which is...shattering. Karen’s extremely hurt by this, fucking understandably.

Christmas Eve! Billy Mack’s song, despite the odds being completely against him, has reached the number one spot on the charts. He appears to be quite happy at a party celebrating him, although his manager appear slightly less so. Wonder why. Jamie, meanwhile, heads to the airport, quite on impulse. Wonder why.

Karl bids Sarah a good night and a Merry Christmas, and she cries when she realizes that their chance of getting together again is shot. Damn. She goes to visit her brother, and I gotta say - she’s a very loving sister. And then...well, it’s the scene. The most famous scene in the movie. You know the one.

And here’s the thing about this scene: is it superficially romantic? Yeah, sure, I guess. And it’s true that Mark doesn’t actually expect anything to come from this, but...this is still an AMAZINGLY shitty thing to do to someone in a committed relationship that involves your friend. Because it could potentially sabotage their relationship. I mean, maybe she’d be tempted to kiss you in a brief moment of infidelity that initially seems romantic, but is kinda fucked up when you really think about it.

Yeah, yeah, LITERALLY JUST LIKE THAT

OK, after that terrible idea, Bill shows up by surprise at his manager Joe’s place, and notes that he could be going to a big party at this point, but Christmas is a time to spend with his family and loved ones, and that the closest thing to that is, in fact, his manager, who is in fact the love of his life. Not sure if that’s necessarily romantic, but that is still sweet. Anyway, they get drunk and watch porn together. Yup.

David, meanwhile, gets a bevy of Christmas cards, one of which comes from Natalie. She apologizes for the kiss situation, and refers to herself as “Your Natalie”. Time to get in the fuckin’ car, David. He drives down to her neighborhood, and goes from door-to-door until he finds Natalie’s place. Her and her entire family are headed to a school concert, and David offers to give her and her little brother a lift there.

On the way there, the two begin to admit their feelings for one another, and Natlie notes that the President forced herself on her, but nothing else happened. While he’s reluctant about the whole affair, she brings him into the concert backstage. As he enters, he runs into his sister Katie, who’s glad to see him, and is clearly holding back tears because of the Harry situation. Judy and Jack are also there, as well as Daniel and Sam (who’s in the concert).

The kids’ concert takes place, and its headed by a solo from Sam’s crush, Joanna (Olivia Olson), who...WAIT, OLIVIA OLSON? As in...

...Huh. Of all the members of this ensemble cast, she’s the one I least expected! But OK! As expected, she’s an excellent singer, and headlines a rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”. Which seems mildly inappropriate for a kid’s concert, but whatever, sure. She points at various people when saying “is you” in the song, but never at Sam, who’s on the drums. Oof. Sorry, buddy.

The song ends, and the curtain drops, and...

Well, uh...shit. I ean, I’m happy for them both, but David’s officially FUCKED at this point. However, the crowd seems to receive it very well, and that’s lucky. The night ends, and everyone disbands for the night. Harry and Karen are amongst them, and Karen confronts him. She asks what would he do if he were in her position, revealing her knowledge about the necklace. And it’s...affecting, goddamn. He’s made a fool of himself and of her, and she’s struggling.

Daniel congratulates Sam about his performance, but notes that it didn’t work Still, Daniel encourages him to tell Joanna his feelings for her, and he goes to get his things first. Daniel bumps into Carol (Claudia Schiffer), and there’s a connection. Daniel and Sam go to speak with Joanna, but they’re on their way to the airport. They run to meet her there, like in a terrible romance movie. Wait - 

At the airport, Daniel and Sam are too late, but decide to make a run for it while Rufus (KING OF GIFT WRAPPERS) is holding up the attendant while looking for his boarding pass. Sam bolts, unnoticed, and Rufus walks away, giving Daniel a knowing look as he passes by, LIKE A KING. Sam bolts through the metal detectors, as the post-9/11 airport attendants RIGHTFULLY FREAK OUT ABOUT THIS WHOLE SITUATION. However, they’re once again distracted by Billy Mack on TV and he catches up to Joanna before being taken away by the fuzz. However, she gives him a kiss on the cheek, and Sam and Daniel hug. Supportive father-son relationship is sweet. 

Jamie goes to find Aurélia in Portugal, and the entire village ends up following him until getting to the restaurant were he works, and proposes to her in INSANELY broken Portuguese, which is hilarious. And she accepts...IN ENGLISH! Which is saccharine as fuck...but also sweet.

We cut to a month later, and everybody’s at the airport for the Epilogue. And we’re gonna do this...well, bit by bit.

Billy Mack and Joe: Career’s going well, and a comeback is imminent. Not in a romantic relationship, but still extremely close friends...I think.

Juliet, Peter, and Mark: Juliet and Peter are still together; Mark is still single, seemingly. They meet up with...

Jamie and Aurélia: Coming to England for the first time together, and still in love.

Daniel and Sam: Went to see Joanna at the airport, and Daniel is now dating Carol, which is nice!

Harry and Karen: Oof, icy. They definitely don’t appear to be on good terms, and we never learn why Harry’s been away, but yeah. Not looking good for their relationship, understandably.

Jack and Judy: Married! FUCK YEAH! Adorable. They run into...

Colin and Tony: Colin’s back, and he’s brought back Harriet (Shannon Elizabeth) and her sister Carla (Denise Richards), who IMMEDIATELY takes a liking to Tony and they make out at the gate. Can’t believe that Colin was right, goddamn.

David and Natalie: David’s back from a visit somewhere overseas, and he and Natalie happily reunite right in front of the press, and it’s sweet.

And we’re full-circle, as countless people at the airport reunite in loving embraces. And, I gotta say...it is sweet, but you ever been to a crowded airport around Christmastime? Dude, I’ve been to JFK around that time period, and lemme tell you, it’s less happy reunions, and more pissed-off TSA, lost luggage, stressed out EVERYBODY, and Cinnabon. That last one’s not a complaint...I just really want Cinnabon.

Mmmmmmmm...OH RIGHT, THAT’S All Around (AKA Love Actually). This has been...a lot. BUT, I’ll get into the whole thing in the Review! See you there!

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2019

Movies

The number in parentheses is year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. 

01 The Death of Stalin (17) does a neat trick of building goodwill for Steve Buscemi’s Krushchev, then brutally pays that off in the last few minutes. 

02 Sorry to Bother You (18)

03 Support the Girls (18)

04 Paddington (14)*

05 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (16)

06 Eighth Grade (18) probably the most terrifying movie I watched all year, if you didn’t watch it through your fingers, who even are you?

07 Morvern Callar (02) much less bleak than the book, but then, nearly anything would be

08 The Favourite (18) revolting and beautiful. 

09 Columbus (17) a really lovely movie about architecture and parent-child relationships.

10 Bring it On (00)*

11 The Land of Steady Habits (18) feels wackier than your average Holofcener, but still a good watch. 

12 Spotlight (15) i was really bowled over by this, and wasn’t expecting to be. Workmanlike filmmaking, but an extraordinary story, well-told.

13 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (17) Barry Keoghan is a blank, but somehow compelling screen presence. This one has an ending that made me bark with laughter.

14 Legends of the Fall (94)

15 Moneyball (11)* if you don’t feel like watching anything in particular, you can always watch Moneyball

16 If Beale St Could Talk (18) very beautiful, but I failed to connect with it on any other level. 

17 For Keeps (88)

18 Abducted in Plain Sight (17)

19 Oscar Shorts (Animated) (18) the offerings were very sappy this year, but the winner was decent! Lots of Toronto content (weird). 

20 Oscar Shorts (Live Action) (18) *unquestionably* the worst one of these won ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21 Velvet Buzzsaw (19)

22 Vice (18) ugh

23 Friends with Money (06)

24 Can You Ever Forgive Me (18)

25 Bohemian Rhapsody (18) haha what. was. that.

26 Mars Attacks (96)*

27 Paddington 2 (18)

28 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (92)*

29 Shoplifters (18)

30 Blindspotting (18) jacked Ethan Embry in a supporting role?! Whither? Howso? Wherefore?

31 Witness (85)

32 Harry & the Hendersons (87)*

33 The Matrix (99)*

34 T2 Trainspotting (17)

35 Blockers (18)

36 The Slums of Beverly Hills (98)

37 Can’t Hardly Wait (98)*

38 Avengers: Infinity War (18)

39 Iron Man II (10)

40 Isle of Dogs (18)

41 Chinatown (74)*

42 To Live & Die in LA (85)

43 Age of Innocence (93) Daniel Day-Lewis manages to make Newland Archer compelling, where in the novel he’s...the worst?!

44 Shopgirl (05)*

45 The House (17) didn’t sustain all the way through, but then, that’s how mainstream comedies often go. 

46 The Beguiled (17)

47 Badlands (73)*

48 Poetic Justice (93)

49 The Empire Strikes Back (80)*

50 Calibre (18)

51 The Kindergarten Teacher (18)

52 Hounds of Love (17) a nice little Aussie thriller, set in the 80s

53 Kicking & Screaming (95)*

54 Octopussy (83)*

55 Jaws (79)*

56 Lover Come Back (61)

57 Frenzy (72)

58 Always Be My Maybe (19)

59 Certain Women (16) took a while to get to this one, but it’s as great as they say it is. 

60 Baby Driver (17) all flash, little substance.

61 Sneakers (92)

62 Roadhouse (87)*

63 Bull Durham (88)*

64 Ghostbusters (84)*

65 Booksmart (19) I think this will improve on multiple viewings, though I loved the soundtrack and the mix of characters. 

66 Hereditary (18)

67 Rebecca (40) George Sanders as Rebecca’s cousin is BRILLIANT

68 Vertigo (58)*

69 The Dead Don’t Die (19)

70 Crawl (19)

71 Dazed & Confused (93)* If you don’t watch this once a summer, what is wrong with you?

72 Jackie Brown (97)

73 Talk Radio (88)

74 The Guilty (18)

75 Killing Heydrich (17)

76 Lady Bird (17)*

77 Billy Elliot (00)*

78 White House Down (13)* Channing Potatum saves the White House!

79 The Film Worker (17)

80 Whitney (18)

81 Mascot (16)

82 Apocalypse Now (79)* technically I’d only seen the Redux version from the early 2000s, so the regular cut is new to me. 

83 Apollo 13 (95)*

84 Psycho 2 (83) the twist is very guessable, but there are a couple of nice-looking scenes.

85 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (04)*

86 The Bodyguard (92)*

87 Murder Mystery (19)

88 Wildlife (18)

89 The Stepford Wives (75)*

90 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (71)*

91 The Natural (84)

92 The Other Boleyn Girl (08)

93 Speed (94)*

94 Opera (87)

95 That’s my Boy (12) haha what?!

96 The Big Short (15)

97 Elizabeth the Golden Age (07)

98 The Glass Castle (17) when I read the book, I genuinely thought it was fiction, it’s so insane. 

99 Dawn of the Dead (78)*

100 All About Eve (50) lady on lady violence is a special thing

101 La La Land (16)

102 Morning Glory (10) remember Rachel McAdams?

103 Casino (95)*

104 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (06)

105 Pet Sematary (19)

106 Clue (85)*

107 Her Smell (18) amazing soundtrack and the songs were well-chosen. Heartbreaking musical moment in the final act. 

108 Bobby Sands: 66 Days (16)

109 She’s Gotta Have it (86)

110 Good Morning (59)

111 Hustlers (19) I didn’t connect with this as much as the reviews led me to believe I might. 

112 Nocturnal Animals (16)

113 Kill Bill Vol 1 (03) I’d only ever seen the second one before, being a non-Tarantino completionist.

114 Fried Green Tomatoes (91)* I watch this more than anticipated...

115 Steel Magnolias (89)

116 Notting Hill (99)*

117 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (19) the tiny city models were inspired!

118 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89)*

119 Let It Snow (19)

120 Frozen (13)

121 The Irishman (19) most interesting as a sort of pastiche/reckoning on the part of Scorsese about his other gangster films. Really outmoded view of unions. Definitely could have been edited down if anyone were able to come to it without undue reverence, but I did love the bit about the fish.

122 Girls Trip (17) actual plot is beside the point. 

123 About a Boy (02)* I always think of this as the “vomit and sweaters” movie, anyone else?

124 Animal House (78)*

DOCUMENTARY : FICTION - 4:120

THEATRE : HOME - 9:115

TV Series

01 Russian Doll - I think I would have enjoyed this more if it hadn’t been bingeable - would have made a nice week-by-week discussion sort of show. I loved to watch the changes between re-ups of our major characters, and I think the actual plotting would reward re-watches. 

02 Catastrophe S4 - A satisfying ending to an excellent show, with very charismatic leads (and deeply weird supporting characters). Had to write around Carrie Fisher’s death, and I’m sure did a better job of it than Star Wars did. 

03 Friends from College S2 - More of the same, which is what I was after. A show like cotton candy (but with more infidelity). 

04 High Maintenance S3 - A lot more of this season took place outside of New York City, which was a great change of pace. And a great deal more information about The Guy and his own life; both difficulties and successes included. 

05 Losers - This was a great little docuseries on Netflix that I didn’t hear a lot of people talking about - it’s about sports losses, but unusual sports ie curling, figure skating and the like. You’d think it would get repetitive, being as it’s always about recovering after loss, but it doesn’t! I wish they would make another season….

06 Shrill - a tight six episode dramedy about an alt-weekly journalist in the Pacific Northwest, based on Lindy West’s memoir of the same name. John Cameron Mitchell as her boss (based on Dan Savage) stands out of the ensemble cast, as does Annie’s roommate played by a British standup Lolly Adefope.

07 Broad City S5 - I haven’t always kept up with Broad City, but I came back to it for its final season, and thought it did a good job of setting its characters up for big changes in their lives. 

08 I Think You Should Leave - It’s easy to assume that all sketch comedy is terrible and always will be, but then you see this, and throw your TV out the window (due to all the laffs)

09 Fleabag S2 - Everything you’ve heard is true, this season is goddamn hilarious and ridiculously sexy. A huge step up from the first season, which was already pretty fantastic and incisive. 

10 Fosse/Verdon - Musicals are not particularly my bag, so I’m sure there was a lot that I missed in terms of references, but the lead performances ably carried me through all of the time jumps and various performances. 

11 Stranger Things S3 - Say it after me: d-i-m-i-n-i-s-h-i-n-g r-e-t-u-r-n-s! Maya Hawke kills it, though. 

12 Big Little Lies S2 - Unnecessary, and (if possible) even sillier than the first season.

13 Lorena - Part of the ongoing quest to rehabilitate the maligned women of the 1990s, this gave me tons of context that I had no idea about at the time, due to being a dumb kid. 

14 Glow S3 - I felt like I was losing steam on this series this year, but episodes like the camping ep kept me coming back. A great ensemble, though some unusual character choices (like a certain kiss *cough*) took me out of it by times. 

15 Lodge 49 S1-3 - I’d kept hearing about this show, so I finally sought it out. I can’t say it was amazingly compelling (I almost dropped it after the first season) but it’s definitely an oddball of a show, slipping from setpiece to setpiece with little regard for logic. For me, a background show. 

16 Chernobyl - This show really gave me the Bad Feeling, humans were definitely A Mistake.

17 On Becoming a God in Central Florida - Kiki in a trashy mode, not as infinitely appealing as the version she pulled off in the second season of Fargo, but scrappy and industrious nonetheless.

18 Show Me a Hero - I’d put off watching this for years, it felt like it was going to be too dull (housing policy in Yonkers?) but it’s great, and larded up with Bruce Springsteen songs, obvs.

19 Great British Bake Off S9-S10 - I’d also held off on watching this for a long time, out of loyalty to Mel, Sue, and Mary Berry. But I needed some comfort viewing towards the end of the summer, and the new hosts and judge do an able job, although the show’s tropes are feeling a bit well-worn at this point. 

20 Righteous Gemstones S1 - A rollicking ride for sure, with a great cast. Your mileage/patience with Danny McBride may vary, so keep that in mind, naturally. 

21 This Way Up S1 - A small show starring the fabulous Aisling Bea, about mental health and families and some nice comic physical acting. Oh, and in case you were watching The Crown and crushing on Tobias Menzies’ version of Prince Phillip, he plays a hot dad love interest in this, which gives you all the Tobias you’re looking for, without the PP racisms. 

22 The Crown S3 - This is the first season of the big cast switchover, and I thought it stuck reasonably well, once we were in it an episode or two. This season concentrated even less on Elizabeth herself, preferring her sister, husband, and (newly!) her children.

[queenkrissy11-fandomaccount]

Skeletons in the Closet-Five

Biker!Neighbor!Steve Rogers x Wealthy!Good Girl!Reader High School Au

Warnings-Swearing, scandals, attempted kidnapping, kidnapping, cheating, smoking, drinking, alcoholics, drug addicts, bullying, illegitimate children, abuse, and violence

With all the money the Mitchel’s have, many assume their lives are as picture perfect as they seem. Behind the glamorous vacations, luxurious mansion, and success that everyone sees, their lives are far from it. The only heir to the fortune, their perfect daughter Y/N, faces the worst of it. Beneath her perfectly curled hair and her flawless grades, is a closet full of skeletons just waiting to get out.  

Their next door neighbor, Steven Grant Rogers, is far from your typical boy next door. He wore a leather jacket rather than button ups, sweat shirts, and tees like the boys in the movies. He opted for a smirk rather than a sweet smile. And to top it all off he chose a motorcycle over whatever you’d picture a cute boy in. But then again, Steve Rogers wasn’t cute, he was irresistible. 

Atleast to most girls. Y/N refuses to give into the boy that likes to cloud her thoughts. The last thing she needs is a biker added to the list of things to keep from the media. A lot is expected from the heiress, and at the top of the list, right under taking over the empire, is having the perfect image. A hot, dirty biker is the last thing her image needs. However, her needs differ greatly from those of her image. And compared to everything else she keeps hidden, the media wouldn’t give Steve a second thought. 

You wake up before the sun is in the sky and grab your clothes from last night, creeping through the house. You’ve almost made it out when you hear a voice from inside a parlor, “Come again soon, Y/N. It was lovely to see you again.” You glance inside and see Sara who doesn’t even look up from the newspaper in her hand.

You clear your throat, “Of course, sorry I couldn’t stay longer.” Her lips rise in a slight smile and you take that as permission to leave. 

You sneak back in through the back door and make it to your room without being caught. You collapse on your bed for a moment before getting up to get ready for school. 

Your head was still pounding after two glasses of water and a few painkillers. 

School drags on, Jackie taunting you every chance she gets until you’ve had enough. She approaches you like every other time, a Cheshire grin on her lips, “Y/n, I saw you got another car. Did daddy buy it for you?” You take a deep breath, keeping your monologue in. You’d actually been saving up from your internship since you started and last Monday you had enough to buy yourself a car on your own. She gives you a sick smirk, “Maybe I’ll get him to buy me one.” You’re ready to slap some sense into the bitch in front of you when a familiar voice rumbles from behind you.

“Give it a rest, Jackie,” Steve grumbles.

Her smirk turns into a taunting smile, “Oh, look how precious this is. You have biker boy fighting your battles.”

You take a step forward, ready to knock her on her ass only for Steve to wrap an arm around your waist and pull you to his side.

You take a deep breath and turn to walk away, Steve’s arm still firmly wrapped around your waist. 

He pulls you into an empty classroom, “Please tell me she isn’t sleeping with your dad.” 

You almost throw up in you mouth at the thought of it, “Ew! No! Why would you think that?”

He shrugs, “She was talking about your daddy and how he’d buy her stuff.”

You huff, “Secret number two, Jackie and I are half sisters.”

Steve’s eyes are wide, “No.” You nod. “Is that why you never do anything? And how she can afford any of the shit she has when she’s being raised by a single stay at home mom?”

“Yep, my dad can’t keep it in his pants and has to give her mom thousands in child support and to keep this scandal from the media.” You start pacing the room, “I’m done with today.”

Steve’s signature smirk is back, “Wanna ditch the last few hours?’

You know you shouldn’t but that doesn’t stop you from agreeing and hopping onto the back of his bike. He took you on a ride that ended with the best view you’ve seen in awhile. The best part, he had you at your car as school got out so your parents would never know. 

Atleast that’s what you thought. You walk into your face and are met with your father, red in the face, “Care to explain?” He’s yelling in your face as he throws a stack of papers in front of you. The first few are you at the club with Wanda, there’s one of you taking shots, the two of you dancing, even one of Bruce with hands on you and his mouth on yours. There’s one with Steve and Bruce shoving each other while you stand there, another with you in between them. The last couple are you on his bike. The night of the club and a few from today.

“Explain,” Your father belted out.

“I, I never saw any paparazzi. I’ve been watching closely, I promise!” You tried but it was  no use. 

Your father brought the back of his hand down across your face, “I don’t need you watching for paparazzi! I need you behaving! I need you keeping you image up! Not getting caught with some biker!”

“Some biker? I’ve been with Steve Rogers,” You try to calm him down but it didn’t help. Instead he back hands you again, this time knocking you back enough you stumble and fall. 

“I don’t want to hear about you being near him again, and if I do, you aren’t going to like what happens,” He finishes his threat and storms off.

Alexis is sitting at the bar, an empty bottle to her left and a full glass in her hand, watching you on the ground. She turns back to her glass, “You’ve been causing more trouble than you’re worth. It’ll cost your father a fortune to keep those from being published.” 

You get to your feet and go up to your room, ignoring the hot tears coming down you face and the burning in your cheek. When you check your phone you see a message from Steve, “I hear yelling, is everything alright?” 

You type out an excuse but delete it and opt for something you haven't done before, putting yourself before your image, “Not Quite.”

His reply is almost instant, “I’ll be up in just a minute.” In a matter of minutes, Steve was pulling himself over your balcony and entering your room through the open doors. He quickly takes in your silent tears and the fact that you’re balled up on your bed. Taking the seat next to you, he softly takes your chin in his hands and tilts it from side to side.

“Secret number three,” You whisper. 

“Was this your father?” He bites out.

You nod softly but flinch when Steve gets to his feet, “I’m going to kill him.” His voice was more of a growl than his typical teasing tone. You jump to your feet and put yourself in his path, “Don’t! You’ll only make it worse,” You’re pleading with him, “Please?” 

He takes in a slow, deep breath and lets it out, resigning himself and settling for taking you in his arms. He holds you tightly and, surprisingly, it feels safe. 

“Where was your mom during all this?” He asks finally. 

You scoff, “Alexis isn’t my mother.”

He pulls his eyebrows together.

You meet his gaze, “Secret number four, my birth mother is a woman named Daniella from Queens. My father knocked her up a bit before they found out Alexis was infertile. When my birth mom told my dad it was perfect for him. He kept Alexis out of the media until I was born and paid Daniella off until she agreed to stay out of the picture and let Alexis sign the birth certificate. He got an heir, Daniella’s financial problems were solved, and Alexis got to play happy family. Atleast, she did until she realized she’d never be happy with someone else’s baby. That she’d never get the full experience. It’s why she turned to alcohol in the first place.” 

“That’s pretty fucked up. I’m getting you out of here if it’s the last thing I do,” Steve says it like it’s a promise but you don’t let yourself get your hopes up. 

Tags-

@ncrediblelove

@meganlikesfandoms 

@straightforwardly

@elizabeth-marie-moon

@capsiclesdoll 

[kitkatt0430]

☕️ on the modern Star Trek films!!!

Ah the Kelvin-verse movies. Something of a mixed bag there.

So the 2009 movie was not a bad starting point for the reboot series. It did forget that canon Kirk was not the casanova that external media likes to flanderize him into and it was clearly aiming at a younger crowd by having the characters be academy graduates - or nearly, anyway - instead of the more seasoned officers of the original series. But for what it was intended to be, a reboot meant to appeal to new fans and current fans alike, it wasn't a bad combination of nostalgia points and new ground.

To some degree it was a retread of the movie plot from the second Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan. Someone with history with the crew plots revenge that is years in the making. There are a lot of parallels in there and I could probably do a rewatch of both in order to refresh my memory on Khan before spending the 2009 movie listing them out. But while many complain that the 2009 reboot is missing the heart of Star Trek - the philosophical question - I tend to disagree. While it's not well executed, the movie is about identity, the existence of 'no win' scenarios, and the price of vengeance. So it does have that philosophical side in there, though its definitely heavier on the action side. But as a jumping off point, it could have easily gotten better from there. And it didn't.

The big problems really started with the second movie. Mainly because in retreading The Wrath of Khan for the second time in what was, at the time, only a two movie continuity, was a really bad choice. White washing an Indian character previously played by a Mexican actor who in no way ever really looked Indian was a bad choice. Stripping away the personal touches of Khan's hatred for Kirk was a bad choice. Recreating Spock's death scene with his position swapped with Kirk's was well acted, but such a blatant nostalgia grab that it was a bad choice.

Transporaters that can take you from Earth to Qo'nos without at least the mention of relays? Do I even need to say it?

The second movie was just riddled with bad choices, blatant nostalgia grabs, and the semblance of an admiral gone bad plot that Star Trek had done better many times before. I remember thinking that surely they weren't doing Khan, that was just rumors, that one actress in the trailer looks too much like Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, of course they're doing a fresh take on the second pilot. And they didn't. I wish they had, Cumberbatch would have made a better Gary Mitchell than Khan.

Thus the second movie was a retread of the same ground the first movie retread, even more poorly than the first movie and incredibly offensively to boot. It leaned even harder into the casanova maverick that people who aren't fans of the show don't seem to understand was young Picard, not young Kirk. About the only plot that really worked in there was Kirk wondering if maybe he really was too inexperienced (YES) to being Captain of a ship like the Enterprise. And even that botched the landing by having Kirk turning the con over to a more experienced officer to go sacrifice his life for the crew... and somehow this was the experience that made him worthy of captaincy and ready to make all the good captain-y decisions now?

*heavy sigh* okay Jan. Sure thing.

It was just so busy trying to embody everyone's favorite memories about Trek that the movie failed to be anyone's favorite memory of Trek.

The third movie, though. That one actually wasn't so bad. It was, to some degree, once again a retread of the some of the same ground that came directly before it. But thankfully not of Khan. The last thing we needed was a third Wrath of Khan nostalgia trip and, thankfully, they finally figured that out.

The third movie retreads Kirk not feeling like he's the best choice of Captain and maybe he needs to get out of that chair, which is the main point where it retreads the preceding movie. Though it does so in a way that mimics where the original series movies had Kirk at in the first few movies when he slowly realized he let himself get booted up to Admiral too soon. Which, at reboot Kirk's age, really doesn't work.

But we do have a decent examination of when the foreign terrorists we're so afraid of turn out to actually be our own people. Which is something the United States has been trying to pretend isn't going on with increasing number of mass shootings going on over the years. (gun control laws, please) More relevant now than ever, an unfortunate lament of many Star Trek episodes over the years and it certainly applies to this movie too.

It's not a perfect philosophical metaphor and the answer presented is more shooty-shooty than 'attempts at de-escalation' that I think ToS and TNG would have aimed for. But it's not necessarily a bad thing for it to say that a defensive shooty-shooty response is the right one in some circumstances. (It's been a long day and I'm sleepy. Shooty-shooty, mmkay?)

The movie is also about Kirk proving to himself that he does have what it takes to be the Captain his crew needs. And a strong reminder that it's not about the ship, it's about the crew. Booting himself upstairs would be a mistake because he's exactly who the crew needs for a Captain and who Starfleet needs sitting in the command chair of their flagship.

Overall? The third movie is the one that feels most like it has the spirit of OG Star Trek to me. And it was the one that relying the least on nostalgia throw backs to OG Trek's greatest hits. It had something new to say and while it was clunky... it was clunky in a way that isn't exactly uncommon in the non-reboot Star Trek that preceded it.

I think if Into Darkness were to, uh, disappear into the void, then the first and third reboot movies would make a fairly decent duology. Assuming that fourth movie they've been taunting us with for years never happens.

[lizzylunawizardessfanfics]

About me tag~

Thank you to @aoimoku12 & @donetorhasslichliebe for tagging me as I’ll be tagging the following (sorry if you’ve already been tagged):

@nadia-the-wizardess @leonthecardboardunicorn @proxyoflucifer @swordsmanofsweets

How tall are you?

I’m bout 5′4-5′5?? Something like that 

What color and style is your hair?

So my hair was black but now it’s almost back to being brown (my natural hair color) so it’s a mix of a brownish black color. My hair goes down to kinda passes my shoulder blades as it’s that THICC Italian hair so it’s wavy/slightly curly which I’ll straighten it for the most part (But it’s not stayin long cuz I’m getting it cut at some point)

What kind of student are you?

I was pretty much an Elias when I was attending school as I may of not the top of my class, but pretty much had made honors all my life.

What color is your eyes?

Brown~

When were you born?

April 11th

What’s your fashion sense?

So I’m all over the place as I like to try to be trendy, but most of the time I will dress comfy as the weeb in me likes wearing graphic anime/video game shirts :3 But once summer hits its shorts/short shorts and t-shirts or tank tops 

Do you like school?

I mean... In the most proper way I could say this I have a love/hate relationship with school as I’ve dedicated a lot of my life to my studies and as I got older I just kinda got tired of it/burned out. 

Where were you born & where do you live now?

Born in Connecticut and I’m still here 

What school do you go to?

I’m actually no longer a student as I graduated from my University last year in May, though I just started working in an elementary school~

Full Name:

Elizabeth

Do you wear braces?

Nope

Do you have any regrets?

Ohhh yeah, but I won’t go into detail since they’re pretty personal

Favorite book?

So I’m not a big reader (unless it’s graphic novels/Manga) but definitely have found some novels that are fantasy or mythology related that I’ve really enjoyed.  

one being The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell & the other is called Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes by Cory O’Brien

Favorite Movie?

Spirited Away, it was my first Studio Ghibli movie when I was younger and I just fell in love with the story of it as it was just so captivating.

Favorite TV Show?

So... I don’t watch much TV, but I like to what a lot of stuff on the Syfy channel, but I guess if i had to name one show it would have to be Paranormal Survivor

Do you wear glasses?

Yes I do as I also would wear contacts (which in fact i’m in need of getting a new pair of both glasses and contacts) Fun fact; I have a astigmatism in my... Left eye (pretty sure.. yeah :3)

Favorite past time?

So back when I was younger and had a bunch of reptiles for pets; especially my red bearded dragons I LOVED taking them out to hold them or just chill around the house.

Dream job?

So aside from enjoying doing my writing a lot of my passion is in illustrating as a lot of what I enjoy doing is character designing (shameless promo time: Ya’ll wanna check out my art you can go over to @lizzyillustrationstudios as posts have been lil show but hope to pick it back up soon) As also of why I love drawing is that I wanted to have a way to give back to the community and at least help someone smile or feel happy. As I also wanted to do acting/voice acting too.

What countries have you visited?

I mean I’ve been to various places in the U.S :’3 but that’s pretty much it, but I would love to be able to travel to Japan and some other places someday~

Scariest Nightmare?

So when I was a very young child/toddler (I really couldn’t tell you an exact age, but I was super young) I was aimlessly wandering around a town/city full of monsters as I had somehow gotten separated from my mom in which she was who I was looking for the whole time. As on a sidewalk there was a werewolf (might of been a vampire or something else) and a Frankenstein that had a cauldron of bubbling green stuff (which in my dream I thought it was acid) in which the Frankenstein monster threw my mother into the cauldron as I went running over while screaming n crying trying to save her; but ultimately failed as I watched her melt away. This has scarred me to this very day about death/dying.

Any enemies?

So I definitely have a couple enemies; one girl (who was a freshman n me a junior) hated me because I had a crush on the same guy she did (which I actually had known him longer as I don’t like playing that card but still as he happened to also be my best friend), Another freshman girl who I thought was my friend actually hated me (I didn’t find out until the end of the school year) because I was “too nice”

Any significant other?

Not exactly as I’ve been on two dates with this one guy as I’m not really sure it’s going to go anywhere but we’ll see what happens. 

Do you believe in miracles?

In fact I do! Not to sound cheesy or anything but I’m actually a miracle child

How are you?

I’m good, finally feeling like everything is slowly falling into place now

[laurenreviewsmovies]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Director: Mike Mitchell

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Tiffany Haddish, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Stephanie Beatriz

Release Date: February 8, 2019

My Rating: 6/10 (If you loved the first LEGO movie it’s worth a watch but if you don’t really care about any of the LEGO movies, don’t let this be the first one you go see.)

My Review (WITH A FAIR AMOUNT OF SPOILERS)

I saw a headline the weekend this movie came out talking about how it was performing so poorly because the franchise is way too saturated and I have to agree. I was blown away by the first LEGO movie and not because it had an amazing plot and was hilarious, even if it was was cleverly funny and entertaining. What really blew me away was the animation. It was so creative and thoughtful, the way it put everything together and had things fall apart and move and build. I can’t find the words to properly described it but if I could, I’d gush about it all day. I loved it. Then I saw LEGO Batman and I wasn’t as impressed by the animation, but the superhero storyline held my interest. When I went to go see this movie, I didn’t even blink an eye at the animation - I was used to it and disenchanted at this point. I would’ve given the original LEGO movie a 10/10 because it was pure good and clever fun, but to take the animation element way leaves me with only the plot and dialogue and jokes to judge and this movie didn’t do too hot (not that I had high expectations going in).

Maybe I would’ve like this movie if I liked some of the actors more. I used to Love Chris Pratt back in 2015 but as of late, I don’t really care for him that much. He rubs me the wrong way and I can’t nail down exactly why, but I’m not a fan. He voices two characters in this movie so that’s already not a great sign. Also, a year and a half ago I didn’t know who Tiffany Haddish and now it’s like between movies and TV, I see and hear her at least once a day. She voices the main new character of this movie and any scene she was in I was super out of, since her voice is so distinct it drew me out of my suspension of belief.

Whereas the first movie only reveals what’s happening with the actual humans who play with the LEGOs at the end of the movie, and drives home the message that way, this movie incorporates them the entire time. The message of this movie is still pretty good and it leaves you wanting to embrace your inner child even as you grow up, but it’s shoved in your face time after time to the point where you’re just exhausted by it at the end of the movie. Sometimes it’s not even subtle and they spell it out word for word (“The song [Everything Is Awesome] was fine when we were younger, but we have to grow up”...“You’re so much more cool and grown up than me”...“What’ve we done?!” “We grew up”... “It’s easy to harden your heart. I may see the world differently but that’s not bad”).

This movie was still clever in it’s jokes and that’s why it still gets a 6/10. Emmett is like a Parks and Rec era Chris Pratt, and Rex is like a post-Parks and Rec/Hollywood Chris Pratt. They poke fun at how male heros always get all the credit. All the different galaxies are just normal words pronounced and spelled differently (the SIS-TAR system, getting trapped under the DRY-AR system, the threat of being banished to the Bin of Store-age). The songs (yes, multiple) were catchy. The little random characters that showed up were like delightful little Easter eggs that didn’t add to the plot at all (Bruce Willis, RBG, Marie Curie, Attractive Non-Threatening Teen Vampires). The whole thing with the building of the time machine left me and the other adults laughing our heads off while the kids didn’t get it at all.

I came in with low expectations so I wasn’t really disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised by the clever jokes and references that were made and it certainly wasn’t bored at all. It’s just nowhere close to as awesome as the first movie was, even if this movie starts literally 30 seconds after the end of the first.

[agentnico]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) Review

"Two coffees please! One black, and one with just a touch of cream and twenty-five sugars." Now we know where Emmet gets all his energy from!

Plot: It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.

Everything is not awesome anymore in the world of Bricksburg (now renamed appropriately as Apocalypseburg) as The Lego Movie franchise takes on its most serious topic....sibling rivalry. Hey, to all the bros and sis’ (that’s the abbreviation for sisters, right??), we’ve all been there. We’ve all had many many (ohhhh so many!) arguments between each other, so I’m sure many can connect with this element of the film. In fact, for anyone who was worried about the goodness of this sequel (me included) can relax. The Lego Movie 2 is funny, charming, quirky and endearing, and though it’s got nothing on the first film (though that basically is an impossible feat) it gets damn close. The reason why I personally went into this sequel quite wearily was due to the marketing. Am I the only one who thought the trailers for this movie were, well, kinda crap? 

The Lego Movie 2 retains that signature sarcastic tone that this franchise is know for and though the surprise element is now missing (I mean, who expected the obnoxious product placement that was the first The Lego Movie to actually end up being as great as it was??) the film as a whole is still very fun. As to be expected, this movie is filled with pop culture references. All for our audience amusement.So this is the time where I’m going to have to call myself out. It’s happening. Right here right now. I’ve called myself out. For usually I give films a lot of slack for inserting too many pop culture references for the sake of having pop culture references. Heck, that was my main big complaint with last year’s Ready Player One. So why such favoritism towards The Lego Movie 2? Just cause, deal with it! No, in all fairness the reason for that is the WAY that the pop culture references are used within these Lego films. Nowadays you can find a Lego set of basically anything. Lego DC? You got it. Lego Marvel? Right there in the third aisle. Lego Lord of the Rings? Just go on Amazon. A Lego set of a guy on a toilet taking a number 2? Well, not sure why you’d want that but I’m sure that can be found somewhere, somehow, for some reason. Basically, my point is that in case of Lego (or is it Legos when plural?) product placement is kind of part of their thing. So when you make a film about Lego then I assume it’s kind of a must to have pop culture references. Also, these said pop culture references in these Lego movies are a cause for some great humour. The Lego Movie 2 is no exception. You can really tell that Phil Lord and Chris Miller had a lot of fun writing the screenplay here. Also, might I add, another win here for Lord and Miller. Can these guys do any wrong? Jump Street films, Spider-Verse... Damn, this makes me only want their version of Solo: A Star Wars Story even more! Also a shout out to director Mike Mitchell, who thus far had mainly only been known for Trolls, as he managed to do a good job keeping the same a feel and tone from the original film whilst trying to make something new also.

As with the first film, the animation here is fantastic. The creative and imaginative uses of the various Lego bricks to create these worlds is quite incredible, and now also the introduction of the sister means we now get see a different side to these Lego settings (cleverly named as the Sistar System). Yes, if you haven’t seen the first film you probably should see that before this, as the major twist at the end of the first film is basically at the forefront of everything in this one. There is also now a musical aspect added (and I looooove musicals!) with certain characters breaking out into song and dance and though none of the tunes reach the heights of the original “Everything is Awesome” there are still some very “catchy” tunes. Yes, I am giving a clue there. Also, a certain duet sung by Tiffany Haddish and Will Arnett about dating Batman is very amusing.

The voice cast is also sublime. Christ Pratt returns as the loveable, optimistic and innocent Emmet who just wants everything to be awesome. I might be giving a lot of slack to Pratt for having possibly allowing his current fame to begin to get to him a little, but when it comes to him here he is as good as in the first movie. He still keeps that naivety and good-will that he portrayed so well as Andy Dwyer aka. the chubby guy from Parks and Recreation. To add to this in this sequel Pratt is doing double duty by voicing a new character who goes by the name of Rex Dangervest who is basically a reflection on who Chris Pratt has turned into in real life, the muscular leading man who is either off guarding galaxies or training raptors. Pratt does a good job with this, putting on his best Kurt Russell impression. Elizabeth Banks is back as Wildstyle who at the beginning tries to do her best impression of Charlize Theron’s Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road and actually gets a lot more to do here than she did in the previous film. Will Arnett is back as Batman and he’s as brooding as ever which comes as no surprise as Arnett is no stranger to voice acting. There’s a reason why he’s also BoJack the Horseman, don’t act like you don’t know! Other cast members also do great and on the contrary of the marketing hiding it Will Ferrell is in this sequel too, and I can say with ease he’s sure as hell better here than he was in Holmes and Watson. Gosh I hate that movie and will trash on it till the end of time and beyond.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part does not break any new ground but is such a fun time with consistently funny lines, great gags, on point cameos, slick animation and colours and a genuinely good time as a whole. With this and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World it seems animated films are the big genre to look out for this year. Now, I only have one question left: honey, wheeeeere are my pants??

Overall score: 7/10