#hallmark channel book

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

[pwrn51]

Melinda Blau on Wisdom, Aging, Power of Friendship

  Betsy’s guest is Melinda Blau, a New York Times bestselling author and expert on relationships. She is the co-author of Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, along with its two sequels, and Family Whispering, a book that inspired her Huffington Post advice column. In addition to her books, Melinda has written extensively on the importance of relationships and human connection. She has received…

[thehumanarkle]

I used to do this thing on Twitter where I would make a thread of videos on my YouTube channel that are one view away from a round number.

BlueSky doesn't make doing it easy, and Twitter likes to hide promotional tweets, so I'm going to try doing this here. Wish me luck.

Though not as a thread, obviously, just one post.

Anyway...

First up, from Season 2, it's the episode on the movie The Beach Girls. Spoiler Alert: This movie SUUUUUUUCKS.

Next, from Season 3, we have Blood of Dracula's Castle, which, if I remember right, contain possibly the lamest Dracula in cinema history. Pretty sure Donald Trump could whoop this guy's ass.

After that we have another Season 3 three movie, the least vampirey movie in a DVD set titled The Vampire Collection, and also a confusing mess, The Witches Mountain. Or The Witch's Mountain, no one seems to be in agreement on which. Er, pun not originally intended.

We move on to Season 4, and Season 4's best movie, the directorial debut of Dolph Lundgren, The Killing Machine (a.k.a. Icarus).

We jump past Season 5 into Season 6 with a movie that was never going to be good good, but couldn't even manage to be bad good. It was, in fact, boring. Santa Jaws, everyone.

Stepping out my main show for this one, we have one of my Tier Ranking videos, this one for the romance options of the Mass Effect Trilogy. #ShaynorIsLife

And another Tier Ranking video, the pre-Snyder Batman theatrical movies. I stand by my rankings here.

We now return to my main show for that time Robert Davi was cast as Merlin. This was a thing that was allowed to happen.

Oh hey, one of my Let's Try videos. This one was for the limited edition Coca-Cola flavor, Dreamworld.

We go from there to Season 8 of the main show, the season where I subjected myself to 4 Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. And this one was the worst of the lot, despite probably straying the furthest from the forumla; Christmas By The Book.

And we close out our post with my most recent Coca-Cola flavor video, Ultimate. However I can only post a link to that one since I hit the 10 video per post limit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Sg0VjgnQs

[raeathnos]

.

[piratefalls]

“You are", he says, "the absolute worst idea I've ever had.” - me @ ao3 after watching the movie and thinking "there's probably fic for this."

i like lists. i've lost sleep reading fic like it's gonna disappear the second i look away. i'm making my problem yours. i'm sure a lot of these won't be new to people since they pre-date the movie and it's far from comprehensive but. i'm late to this party. i also can't make gifs, so enjoy the basic canva header.

(baby) don't make me spell it out by extasiswings

One night near the end of first semester 1L finals, just a few weeks before the two-year anniversary of their first kiss, Alex finds himself looking up from his desk with its messy piles of color-coded notes and tabbed textbooks to see Henry asleep on the couch, clearly having dozed off waiting for him to come to bed, and unbidden he thinks, God, I’m going to marry this man. It startles him, the spike of adrenaline that floods through him waking him up and bringing the parts of his brain turning over concepts like proximate cause and strict liability to a standstill as he stares at Henry. I want to marry this man.

God Save the Blessed American President Mom by zipadeea

["June stopped by at lunch; she showed me a delightful channel called Hallmark, which repeats the same story every hour after they swap one round of white, straight, small-town conventionally beautiful actors for another. It was entertaining.” “June and I used to play a drinking game with those. Take a shot every time someone goes ice skating, sledding, or leaves the big city for their tiny hometown.” “Good lord, you must’ve been sloshed in the first ten minutes.”] -- On December 4, 2021, an attempt is made on President Ellen Claremont's life. Alex gets shot instead.

Familiar Gravity by cmere

“Yeah,” Alex breathes, and he pulls back to look Henry in the eyes. “I’ve been fantasizing about you fucking me in this chair for, like, weeks. Every time you sit down here with your stupid book.”   Henry likes it when Alex speaks Spanish and Alex has a request.

Am I the Asshole? by everwitch

AITA for spending Valentine’s Day with my roommate instead of my boyfriend? It’s well past midnight on a Saturday and hardly the first time Alex has scrolled aimlessly on his phone instead of trying to sleep, but it’s definitely the first goddamn time Alex has discovered his roommate has made a lengthy post about last night’s curry debacle to r/AmItheAsshole — a post that’s apparently gone fucking viral. -- In which Alex and Henry are college roommates, and a few thousand strangers think they should fuck.

Everybody needs good neighbours by railmedaddy

To nora(9.37pm): So a funny thing happened My hot neighbour brought me the mcflurry i ordered and we fucked From nora (9.38pm): WHAT DETAILS NOW Which neighbour? Wait, you only have one hot neighbour. Alex, did you fuck a guy?!?!?! ALEX Or Alex meets a hot new neighbour. Shenanigans ensue.

A Picture on Your Corkboard by bleedingballroomfloor

It happens on a random morning in May when Alex, age fourteen, pads into the kitchen to greet his mother and steal a waffle from June's plate and sees a man sitting at their breakfast counter, reading a newspaper, a cup of coffee raised to his lips. Like he belongs. Like it's the most natural thing in the world. June doesn't seem to give the man a second thought. She merely flicks Alex on the forehead and takes back the waffle. Ellen isn't worrying, either. In fact, she's talking to him. Asking what his schedule is like. Making plans for dinner. Alex has never seen this man before in his life.

this is the worthwhile fight by dearhappy

It's not that Henry's scared of their future, he's never been more sure of anything in his life. The thing is they're still trying to figure out how that future is going to look. And he worries about how it'll affect Alex's career in politics.

Déjame Ver Cómo Es Que Floreces by 14carrotgold

Oscar gets in close and bluntly asks, “Earlier. In the bathroom. Did you do it?” Alex scoffs, “No. Don't be a perv. Why would you wanna know that anyway?” Oscar rolls his eyes. “Mind out of the gutter, chamaco. Did you propose?” Ah.  - Henry is introduced to the extended Diaz side of the family at their matriarch's birthday. Shenanigans (and romance and feelings) ensue.

Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood by chamel

“I’m glad you both see it that way,” Dr. Chen says. Then she closes her notebook and folds her hands on top of it. “I think I’m starting to get a sense of where the issues lie. The good news is that you’re both here, and you’re both willing to work on this relationship. That’s promising. Not all of the couples I see are even at that point.” “Sorry, what?” Henry says, voicing Alex’s stuttering thoughts as well. (After one too many fights at work, Henry and Alex are assigned mandatory reconciliation therapy by their boss. Except the therapist thinks they're there for couples therapy... and surely, a bet on who will break first makes more sense than actually correcting her, right?)

Such a Burden, This Flame on My Chest by allmylovesatonce

Alex Claremont-Diaz is relocating back to Austin to join his dad's firehouse. His days as a firefighter in Washington D.C. ended badly, but no one knows that, or knows why. And he plans to keep that close to his chest. He has to shove it back down if he wants to seem like a normal person, if he wants to do the job, if he wants to get along with his new crew, and most of all, if he wants to get to know the hot British firefighter on the squad. No one can know what really happened.

thinking (about last night) by rhosyn_du

“I hope you know that I am literally never going to stop reminding you that you said that. I’m going to, like, take out an ad in the student paper. Maybe hire a skywriter or something. I am definitely telling Pez." "I hate you," Henry tells him. "Lies," Alex says, still laughing. "You know you love me." Henry lets out a heavy sigh. "Well," he says softly, "that's rather the problem, isn't it?" “What, you think we’d be better off if we still hated each other?” “I think," Henry says slowly, "I’d be better off if I could figure out how to stop being so stupidly in love with you.” It takes a few seconds for the words to really register, as distracted as Alex is by the heat of Henry’s breath and wondering how much it would cost to actually hire a skywriter. Once they do, it takes a full minute before Alex can move. Can breathe. Can think. Finally, he forces out a whispered, “What?” When that gets no response, he tries again. This time, his voice actually cooperates. “Wait, what?” The only response he gets is a soft snore and Alex realizes that Henry, the utter fucking asshole, has passed out on his shoulder.

you're the reason i let myself fall by perfect-porcelain (tedddylupin)

Alex doesn't quite know what to expect when he walks into a room with a glowing screen separating him from the person in the other pod. The entire experience makes him skeptical. How can you fall in love with someone you've never met? Or: Love is Blind AU

Sharper Head, Wilder Heart by Dawg1515

"This could work out,” Henry offers. “It could,” Alex replies. “That’s good, then. Someone’s going to have to walk me through the brilliance of Empire Strikes Back, after all.” “Sweetheart, if we’re legitimately dating now, I’m forcing you to watch every movie that has Harrison Ford in it.” “Duly noted.” Or: When the Queen decides it’s time for Henry to settle down with a woman, she arranges a courtship between him and Alex Claremont-Diaz, closeted political powerhouse. Alex secretly tells Henry he’s trans, and Henry tells Alex that he’s gay. To say they become an amazing couple would be an understatement—but nothing is ever that easy for a prince and a president’s son.

every version of you (i love) by coffeecatsme

“So,” the voice narrates as the man squishes the dog’s cheeks and laughs at himself. “There’s this guy that lives next to me with the cutest beagle in the world and this little guy climbs to the fence every day to drop his toys off at, like, 5:30 on the dot, I’m not kidding.” The camera shows the man boop the dog’s nose and press a little kiss to his forehead. There’s a ball in his hands that he hands to the dog, but it slips from his mouth all over again, making the man reach down to grab it. He glares at the dog, but even then he’s still smiling. “And this guy always walks by and picks up the stuff and it’s the cutest fucking thing ever you have no idea.” The camera zooms in farther into the man’s smile, genuine and wild, as he pushes his wild curls away from his face. His eyes flicker up when another figure walks into the frame, his blonde hair falling over his forehead in waves. The man’s smile, impossibly, widens. “Oh. I’m also pretty sure he has a crush on my neighbor.” Or, 5 times David greets Alex with something that belongs to Henry, and 1 time he greets Alex with something that belongs to both of them.

The Duke Who Loved Me by annesbonny, Inareskai, schmulte

This Author knows as well as anyone how much you, gentle readers, enjoy a scandal and a love story. And what could bring more delight that two young gentlemen who bring both of those wherever they go? Join the Duke of Mountchristen and the, untitled, Mr Claremont-Diaz as they attempt to find a Love Match amongst the gossip of the ton.

The Edge of Glory by politics_and_prose

Subject: CD-10 To: Alex Claremont-Diaz (acd@cdlaw.com) From: Natasha Wallace (nwallace@txdems.com) Alex - You know how you jokingly told me to let you know when Mayfield was vulnerable and/or not seeking re-election? Tash

lying in the low light by smc_27

The thing about having a one night stand with the guy your sister is close friends with and gatekept from you is that it becomes really fucking important that she never knows. Or, Alex and Henry have a one year stand. Or, Alex and Henry are in a relationship, only they’re the only ones who don’t know it.

what we might do (if we stop keeping a secret) by indomitablelove

'This isn't how I wanted to tell people. I thought we'd get the chance to do it right.' - Red, White and Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston, p.327 --- or, in another world, Alex and Henry get to do it right.

Who Could Love You The Same as I by MariaDmitrievnaLikesSundays

Inside was exactly what Alex had found himself dreaming about ever since that night at Kensington. The kind of dreams that he forced himself to forget once he woke up, but dreams all the same. A gold band, simple and smooth, with a single square diamond embedded on top. It was small, modest, exactly to Alex’s taste. ”Holy shit,” he said again. “Holy shit.” That was a ring. That was, unmistakably, an engagement ring. Hidden in his boyfriend’s coat. And he had just found it.

—— Or, Alex finds the engagement ring that Henry had hidden, and does exactly what you’d expect him to.

As the World Falls Down by 3bowtruckles

So while we all knew that the 2020 written in the book would be glorious fiction, we didn’t realize that reality would throw us something to take 2020 even further away from the book’s events. This story is where I attempt to merge our 2020 reality and the fiction of RWRB, using research (a LOT of research) to try to figure out what the trajectory of reality might have been. The story starts picking up the timeline after their late-February trip to Paris. After that, it's strictly AU, but I try to keep a lot of the intents of the events in the book (for instance, Alex's trip to confront Henry in Britain after the lake) while still making them fit the narrative I've created.

We'll Change the World Yet to our Dessire [sic] by cresswells

Alex and Henry are engaged and ready to share their announcement with the world, but after the media circus surrounding their forced outing Queen Mary wants them to do things properly this time. To Alex’s surprise, ‘properly’ apparently means taking a Royal Tour around Europe as an official couple. Ten days, five countries and lots of unnecessary wardrobe changes. What could possibly go wrong?

where clouds look like mountains by weather_stained

Four months after the election, while still learning to navigate the complexities of being in a public relationship, Alex finally has the chance to show Henry around Austin.

We'll Invite Something In by smc_27

Alex is grinning a little too hard.  This is absolutely idiotic and pointless and fun.  The cover of Hello UK with a photo of him pulled out and a photo of His Royal Highness Prince Henry Fox-Mountchristen whatever the hell the rest of his names are (Alex knows; he being a dick) with the admittedly stupid but flattering headline which reads: His Royal Highness: He’s just like us and crushes on Pres ACD.

Henry's Cold, Empty Tower by DracoWillHearAboutThis

“I want you,” Henry said, slowly but clearly, “to leave.” When Alex storms Kensington Palace, Henry sends him away. Then, their relationship gets leaked, and it's Henry's turn to fight for Alex.

behind the diamond-shaped glass by Celaestis

Five times Alex and Henry used tea and biscuits to communicate, and one time they don't need to.

The Byline by rosetintednerdglasses

Press Secretary Alex Claremont-Diaz serves at the pleasure of the President, and he does it excellently until a new White House correspondent darkens his press room: Henry Fox, The Guardian.

we've been here forever (here's the frozen proof) by r_holland

Objectively, I am aware that you – a stranger – cannot tell me my own sexuality any better than I can, however... Can you, please? Tell me? It’s 4am and I have been thinking about this for hours, and I can’t sleep. Warmest regards, ACD *** It’s four in the morning, and Alex Claremont-Diaz has managed to follow a research spiral straight down into a personal crisis. It isn’t the first time.

words on the tip of your tongue (but please don't say them) by viciouslyqueer

So close. He was so close to saying those words that have lived inside him for so long, and now it's gone, a moment that slipped right between his fingertips before he could grasp it. Now he’s floating in the middle of the lake alone, the ghost of Henry’s touch still lingering on his skin and an unknown, heartbreaking feeling in his chest. — Or: canon-divergence where Henry doesn't leave the lake house.

The Grand Tour by lucky (revolutionbarbie)

When Henry returned from an audience with Queen Mary looking stony faced and grim, Alex had immediately feared the worst. She had requested to see Henry – and Henry alone – the moment their plane had landed at Heathrow on a visit to Pez’s new shelter in London.  Alex had suggested that they go to see her together just to spite the old hag, but Henry wanted to keep the peace. Since moving to Brooklyn, they had entered into an uncomfortable détente with Queen Mary and Henry was loathe to be the one to break it.  “She wants us to go to Australia. It would be an unofficial Royal Tour, of sorts, with stops in several cities and a short visit to New Zealand. Three and a half weeks in total.”  “She wants to send us on an all-expenses paid Australian getaway? Count me in.”

come and get me by rizcriz

The email arrives 8 days after Henry left the lake house. He contemplates deleting it without reading, but it sits in his Alex inbox, where there are over seventy emails favourited, and somehow it feels wrong and weirdly impersonal. As if leaving without a note were any different. He stares at the from line with an aching longing that seeps into his veins. It settles on his heart like a tangible thing; something warranted and cruel that casts shackles around the aorta and locks them tight so that he might never love again. -- or, alex sends an email instead of flying to KP.

Never Did Run Smooth by clottedcreamfudge

"You and me? Best friends. Stellar. Love that for us. But we could absolutely fake being in love. Dating. Whatever. I know literally everything about you—" (No you don't, Henry thinks firmly) "—and you know everything about me. We would absolutely fucking annihilate the other contestants.” "You're too drunk to apply," Henry points out, like he himself isn't about as wasted as it's possible for him to be without curling up and going immediately to sleep. "I doubt you could spell your own name right on the application. Or mine." Alex grins and pulls something up on his phone; it looks like it takes him a few tries. "Wanna fucking bet?" *** Or: Henry's life is a comedy of errors; a patchwork of oopsie-daisies; a quilt stitched together with hauntingly terrible mistakes. And at the centre of it all is his best friend, Alex Claremont-Diaz; director of said comedy, threading together his oopsie-daisies into a flower crown, rolling around in the quilt of his own making, and this analogy is going to shit because Henry's so in love with him he wants to die.

idk I'll do a part two if anyone wants.

[antiquepearlss]

You can't tell me that both Varian and Hugo have a Twilight movie marathon every weekend just to make fun of the characters.

Oh for sure. I think Varian genuinely did really like the movies and the books when he was younger, but now he cringes when he watches the movies lol.

I feel like Hugo and Varian watch a lot of “bad” stuff to make fun of them. Bad movies, bad YouTube videos, bad tv shows, etc. Specifically they love the really cheap movies with terrible writing. Or Hallmark movies. I can so see Hugo having a commentary YouTube channel and Varian joining, and they watch shit like Velocipastor together. That’s their date night.

[msnihilist]

I read something about adult/teenage Phinabella going back to Paris to redo their little trip to the "City of Love" that went wrong in Summer Belongs To You, and... I don't know, I just kind of hate that?

I hate it because it's boring. I can literally grab any book from Walmart with a shirtless man on the cover and read about a whirlwind romance in Paris or turn on the Hallmark channel and see the same thing set in some Christmas town, and blah blah blah, it's the same shit I've seen my entire life.

The whole point of the Phinabella arc in SBTY is that Isabella realized wanting a storybook, traditional romance out of Phineas is wrong. It's something she expects out of love, but not something she should expect out of him. Narratively, this is reinforced because every dynamic in Paris goes sour. Candace and Jeremy don't have their kiss until they're home (because he met her halfway, get it?), Vanessa leaves Ferb alone on the Eiffel Tower, Phineas is more interested in bolts and blowtorches than romance, and that's good because that's who he is.

He's not the kind of guy who's going to sit down, relax, and watch a beautiful sunset with the girl he loves, and Isabella doesn't want him to be that person. She loves him for his weird-shaped head, and how he uses big words to explain simple concepts, and even in her birthday song about wanting to be alone with him for one day, Isabella is perfectly content to help Phineas on one of his projects by handing him the tools he needs.

Phineas doesn't show his love by getting someone flowers or chocolates or a spontaneous vacation to Paris. His love language is acts of service and quality time. He is perfectly content to spend a whole day with Ferb, doing nothing at all. He will make an entire styrofoam town at the mere suggestion that Buford can't risk getting any bruises. He fretted like crazy over Isabella's birthday gift and felt so bad when he thought it had been ruined.

Phineas literally goes crazy when he can't invent, and Isabella would never want him to change that part of himself — because if he did, he wouldn't be the boy she loves.

He would just be another normal guy, and their romance would be another normal story.

And I think Phineas and Isabella would both hate that.

[watchinghallmark]

Junebug - August 3rd on Hallmark Channel

Juniper, a book editor turning 40, is magically reconnected with an eight-year-old version of herself who questions her life choices, including the dream of writing her own stories. Starring Autumn Reeser and Aaron O’Connell.

[askamydaily]

FINALLY ...

I don't have to care about gender reveal parties.

(The following column runs in newspapers across the country on May 24th, 2024)

Dear Readers: After 21 years writing the “Ask Amy” column, I’m announcing that I’m leaving this space. My final column will run at the end of June.

I’m healthy, happy, and 64-years-old. This is a decision I’ve been wrestling with for over a year.

When I was first hired by the Chicago Tribune to write an advice column after Ann Landers’ death, I was a middle-aged single mother. My daughter Emily and I moved from our long-time home in Washington DC and relocated to Chicago. 

[Emily and Amy, Freeville, NY. Photo by Chris Walker for the Chicago Tribune]

My welcome to Chicago was to deliver a solo performance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in front of 35,000 baseball fans during the 7th inning stretch of a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

This turned out to be a metaphor for my experience writing this column, which has been an exuberant and sometimes nerve-wracking effort of trying to hit the right notes before a huge audience. 

After several great years in Chicago, Emily left for college and I moved back to my tiny hometown of Freeville, NY (pop. 505), to spend time with my sisters, aunts and cousins, and to be with my mother at the end of her life. 

My experiences have mirrored those of many of my readers. For me, these last two decades have been about the intensity and consequences of both love and loss. 

After returning home, I promptly tumbled into a Hallmark Channel plotline, when I fell in love with and quickly married a man I’ve known since childhood (we grew up on neighboring dairy farms). My husband Bruno and I then blundered into the oftentimes awkward blending of our family of five daughters. 

[2008, Freeville, NY]

I became a stepmother, and then a grandmother, all before I believed I was ready. 

My mother and her three wonderful sisters are gone, now. A niece and nephew died, tragically, while in their teens. Much of my recent life has been absorbed by caregiving, mourning, and recovery.

Day in, day out -- over the last two decades – readers have generously shared their own vulnerabilities about many of our common experiences. I’m grateful that we’ve been able to help each other.

I’ve burned through eight laptops, opened bushels of postal mail, written columns in the car, on board planes, in hospital waiting rooms, on my honeymoon, and at my mother’s bedside. During this time, I’ve also written two books, a screenplay, and scores of essays. 

Doing this work has sent me into therapy. It has inspired me to explore the teachings of world religions, and to seek the insight of thinkers like Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. I’ve quoted the wisdom of Maya Angelou, Joni Mitchell and Fred Rogers -- as well as dozens of poets, social scientists and psychologists. 

I’ve made my share of mistakes, been well-pranked – at least twice (that I know of), and learned how to apologize, ask for forgiveness, and to forgive other people for their own mistakes. Inspired by readers’ dilemmas, I’ve also worked hard to mend fractured family relationships and to be a better friend.

My personal experiences are a reminder that we humans can’t really control what happened before or what happens next. Joy, like grief, comes at you in such unexpected ways. That’s why it is so important to pay attention. I’ve learned to do that.

Being an advice-giver has challenged me to be aware of cultural, social, and relationship trends -- and to appreciate the quirks of human behavior.

When readers get frustrated by my lengthy answers to sometimes petty problems, they will often suggest that I should just tell people to “get a life!,” but I think that wrestling with our questions – from the quotidian to the profound – is living.

For the next month, I’ll continue to publish fresh columns and rerun some favorites. After that, my fantasy is to drive an RV across the country, visiting people I’ve met through this work who have challenged me and tantalized readers with their anonymous requests for advice.

In my hometown, I’m opening a little lending library. You can find me on social media, through my Asking Amy newsletter, at amydickinson.com, or at the Freeville Literary Society on Main Street – talking books with kids and offering advice to anyone who asks.

Love,

Amy

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

[utopians]

just curious why didn’t you like red white and royal blue !!! i haven’t watched it but i know someone who was literally raving about it so i’m curious to why you didn’t like it

oh god just a lot of things I fear... I'll try to make an itemized list of em

one of the lead actors could not act his way out of a wet paper bag. like genuinely one of the worst performances I've seen. the guy playing henry was fine but the guy playing alex was just incredibly bad and it was impossible to ignore

it was generally just. not a very good movie. like extremely twee and shallow writing. if this movie were exactly the same shot-for-shot but it featured a heterosexual couple it would be thoroughly and completely indistinguishable from any other hallmark channel drivel. I know people love to say "ohhh gay people also deserve stupid bad movies!!!" but I disagree. we should simply make good movies instead

a good amount of massively corny dialogue

the politics were just... deeply 2016. very bad. it absolutely epitomizes the whole miserable genre of liberal 'escapist fiction' that's completely focused on putting queer people or people of color in positions of power within an exploitative system instead of sparing a single thought about whether that system should exist in the first place

like sorry but writing a narrative about the british royal family where the uncritical happy ending is "adoring crowds affirm the beloved hereditary prince's place in the hereditary hierarchy" is just. come on man. come on

similarly just an absolutely uncritical and wholly positive take on the office of united states president. laughable

the whole scene where uma thurman asks alex if he's on truvada in that unbearable fake southern accent. uncanny. also texans don't sound like that

the pacing was bad, bad, baddddd. everything happened far too fast, probably as a symptom of trying to adapt a several hundred page long book into a two hour movie. it felt like I was watching some sort of abridged version of the movie for like the entire first half of the film

this is a small thing but the production value just seemed really bad. like it was serving youtube webseries. which isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world but combined with the acting and the writing it certainly didn't do the movie any favors

this is also more of a personal pet peeve and I recognize that but the score was obviously just pulled from a generic stock music library and I really hated it. it was just very obnoxious and on the nose. I get it's often unavoidable but I'm a big stock music score hater

[vague-humanoid]

Stranger Danger: Moral Panic, White Childhood Innocence, & the American Carceral State With Paul...

In this episode we speak with Paul Renfro about his book Stranger Danger: Family Values, Childhood, and the American Carceral State

Paul Renfro is an associate professor of history and an affiliate faculty in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Florida State University. In addition to Stranger Danger, He is also the coeditor of Growing Up America: Youth and Politics since 1945, and the author of the forthcoming book The Life and Death of Ryan White: AIDS and Inequality in America which comes out this fall on UNC Press.

Stranger Danger tells the story of how bereaved parents of missing and slain children turned their grief into a mass movement and, alongside journalists and policymakers from both major political parties, propelled a moral panic. Leveraging larger cultural fears concerning familial and national decline, these child safety crusaders warned Americans of a supposedly widespread and worsening child kidnapping threat, erroneously claiming that as many as fifty thousand American children fell victim to stranger abductions annually. The actual figure was (and remains) between one hundred and three hundred, and kidnappings perpetrated by family members and acquaintances occur far more frequently.

We get into all of that and focus intently in this conversation on how Stranger Danger functioned from its inception as a moral panic or a sex panic. A panic Renfro argues we’ve never emerged from, one that still animates the reality of mass incarceration today, but is often less discussed than other contributing factors to the largest system of carceral control and punishment in the world.

This conversation was originally recorded all the way back on September 8th and was slated to be released on Halloween to time it up with the ridiculous annual copaganda about strangers lacing children’s candy a reliable myth propelled by the child safety regime. Obviously that timeline was dramatically derailed by our focus on work around Palestine which has largely taken the form of videos on our YouTube channels. My apologies to Paul Renfro for taking so long to get this excellent conversation edited and released. Even though the conversation certainly has nothing to do with Palestine directly, as I was finalizing the edit for this episode, it was interesting to think in this moment about the demonization of student protesters, the notion that student encampments have been somehow been infiltrated by so-called “terrorists” who are poisoning their minds with radical islam, teaching them anti-semitic rhetoric, and guerrilla warfare tactics. Certainly this has many of the hallmarks of a moral panic. And there are others we discuss in the show the panic around schools teaching sex education, the dangers of drag balls, or concerns about transgender kids in sports. It is important to be able to recognize attempts to manufacture panics, and to think critically about how we respond to these multifaceted propaganda efforts.

If you want to support our work, the best way to do so is to become a patron of the show. You can do so for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism

For show notes (with working links go here: https://millennialsarekillingcapitali... )

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Rereading the chapters of Edward's visit to Barton, and once again bewildered that a 2024 HALLMARK CHANNEL adaptation of S&S would be the one to do something interesting with Edward based on a character trait he shows in the book instead of "make him adorkable!", "make him hot!", "make him angry chop wood in shirt sleeves under the rain!"

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

A Christmas Carol (1984) George C. Scott and Edward Woodward (one of my favorite versions - Fred, YDI)

This is probably the only version of 'A Christmas Carol' in which Scrooge wears dress pants with a dress shirt, vest, and smoking jacket instead of his nightshirt, slippers, and cap. Rumor has it that George C. Scott openly reeled at the very thought of portraying Scrooge under such conditions, especially in an English winter. In the book, Scrooge wears his shirt, pants, vest, dressing gown, and slippers. Scott's clothing is very close to the book.

Although this movie was made for television, it was released theatrically in the United Kingdom in November 1984.

Many versions of A Christmas Carol depict Scrooge as beginning to understand his mistakes by the end of his time with the Ghost of Christmas Present. However, this is one of the few versions that makes a point of showing that Scrooge does not accept his mistakes until he spends a good amount of time with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. As an example, when he is deserted by the Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge sits down and states "What have I done…to be abandoned like this."

This movie was filmed on location in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in the English Midlands. It originally aired on the American television network CBS on 17 December 1984, and was released theatrically in Great Britain.

The movie has run in syndication on local American channels since it debuted in 1984, and was released on VHS in 1989 (in the UK) and to DVD in 1999. This was because Scott himself (and later his estate through Baxter Healthcare, to whom the Scott family donated their copyright) owned the rights to this film. On 25 November 2007, it returned to national television on AMC for the first time since its debut, and the network continues to show it each December under license from the Scott estate and 20th Century Studios/Walt Disney Television (the latter's distribution rights the result of their owning the video rights). In 2009, the Hallmark Channel also ran the movie soon after Thanksgiving. It remains among the most beloved of the several adaptations of A Christmas Carol.

The fade outs for commercial breaks (as seen on television airings and original VHS releases) perfectly broke the story up into the five 'staves' as per Dickens' original novel (Marley's Ghost/The First of the Three Spirits/The Second of the Three Spirits/The Last of the Spirits/The End of It). However, these have been edited out for the more recent DVD and Blu-ray releases.

[copperbadge]

Hi Sam, hope you are having a fine day. Not sure if this is a weird comment to leave you with, but when I saw the trailer for “Red, White and Royal Blue” I immediately got excited because it felt like maybe one day Shivadhverse could get its own cinematic universe, and I would really and definitely enjoy that. Thank you very much for writing and sharing your stories, they have been a comfort to me for a decade now and going.

I've seen the trailer! It looks fun, I'm going to try and catch it. (And if folks reading this haven't read my books but are into Red White and Royal Blue, I think you may enjoy them. They're available free as PDFs!)

This particular film is being made and distributed by Amazon, but I think it's a good opportunity to discuss the genre and the way it's shifting, which means circling back around to Hallmark Channel for a minute. The OG "light-romance" channel as a whole is beginning to lean just slightly more liberal, and a lot of actors left en masse to join a more right-wing channel, and I'm hoping Hallmark...hasn't really missed them. And I think everyone in that orbit -- not just Hallmark, but the production companies that make Hallmark movies and also off-brand "Hallmark" movies that show on Netflix and Amazon and Paramount and such -- have realized that a) the permanent loss of viewership over simply having a gay romance is either minimal or has already happened, and b) if you make it gay, THE GAYS MIGHT WATCH. And anyway it's not like Amazon has the same viewer base, so there's less risk regardless.

Fete For A King was originally written as a Hallmark script, full-on. It had two versions -- the original "Eddie" version and a halllmarkified "Edie" version where Eddie was a woman (pretty much nothing but her pronouns changed). That didn't go anywhere, which is fine, the odds of something like that going anywhere are quite small, but it meant I could develop it into the books, which are a satisfaction on their own. If Hallmark (or any other film distributor) came knocking, sure, I'd love to see the Shivadh novels as films and I think they're pretty cinematic in the specific way Hallmark movies are.

There's a Hallmark movie director who gave an interview once where he said, "You don't find Hallmark. Hallmark finds you, if you're lucky," and I think that's pretty true -- you can't like, submit your novel to a production company and be all "Hey here's a movie idea". But you know, the more these novels circulate, the more word of mouth the readers give them, the better odds that someone'll see them and think, "Hm."

Anyway, I stand and wait. There's enough material in what's published to make four to six movies or at least twelve bingeable episodes of streaming TV, should anyone want it.

(I would hope it goes without saying but to say it anyway, I'm not volunteering this to happen while the writer's strike is ongoing; my mother didn't raise a scab.)

[songofthesibyl]

I wanted to write something for Feylin Week, but I am so burnt out after Tamlin Week. And honestly just really discouraged in general. I just saw a post talking about an interview SJM gave where she says that Tamlin, quote, “sucks.” And I was just so turned off. This is a character she’d been writing for almost ten years at that point, (depending on when she started ACOTAR). He’s not a good person for a lot of that time—definitely written as an antagonist—so he’s going to be described in negative terms, but it just seemed so—I don’t know if it’s immature—but it’s very flippant, and not thoughtful at all. Though I get there’s a tongue-in-cheek-ness about it to an extent. But—things like this (and, he’s a “douchebag”) are gotcha quotes from people saying he isn’t getting any good story from her in the future. And, really—that is the way it seems. This interview is from the ACOSF tour—so, after the scenes in ACOFAS, which were so upsetting to me. And she still has nothing to say about him other than “he sucks.” It reinforces the possibility that all the entirely unnecessary scenes he is present for in the last two books weren’t set-ups for anything—that they really were just reminders through other people’s POVs to still hate him after the end of ACOWAR and to think of him as a “piece of shit,” and to get off on seeing him suffer, which a lot of readers do. People still see ACOFAS as this Hallmark Channel-esque sweet Christmas special, as if Tamlin’s scenes only add to that feeling. So I don’t know why I’m being so thoughtful about a character whose complexity and interesting aspects were clearly an accident, whose own author and creator can’t be bothered to say anything more meaningful and insightful than “he sucks” after writing him being suicidal. And I really have no interest in reading anything further, in any of her series, and being part of an incredibly toxic fandom, if “he sucks” is all people have to say.