#no but imagine jon getting even more signals mike feels the same ����

[tozierswheelers]

christmas party [s.h.]

Request?: from @charlibowers: “I’m living for Your jealous Steve imagine. Could you do another one where it’s closer to Christmas and all of y/n’s friends are in a relationship and Steve has the fattest crush on her?? Thanks I love your blog”

Summary: Karen Wheeler decides to host a Christmas party (which no one is excited about) and allows Mike and Nancy to invite all their friends.

this takes place after season 2 ends. the Christmas of that same year.

You trudged up the walkway of the Wheeler residence, tightly grasping the bottles of wine and sparkling apple cider that you had brought for the adults and kids, respectively. You shifted both bottles to one hand, getting ready to knock, when someone else beat you to it. 

You glanced to your right and saw Steve standing next to you, a soft smile on his face as he reached for the two bottles. “Lemme get those for you.”

You smiled sweetly as he carefully took them from you and he smiled back. You stood there for a while, just staring at each other as you waited for the door to open, neither of you noticing Dustin and Mike watching you through the window.

You were startled when the door swung open, a smiling Nancy greeting you both before ushering you inside. 

“Let me get those for you Steve,” Nancy smiled, taking the two bottles from him before turning to you. “Thanks for bringing them (Y/N/N). You guys can hang your coats there.”

Steve shed his jacket before turning to you, motioning towards your shoulders. “Let me help you with that.“

You smiled bashfully as you removed your coat and he hung it up. You glanced down and smoothed your dress out, making sure it was wrinkle-free. When you looked up, Steve was staring at you, mouth slightly agape as he watched you 

“Steve?“ you questioned. “You okay?“

Steve quickly looked away, running a hand through his hair and straightening his dark blazer before nodding quickly.

“After you,” he motioned in front of him, signaling for you to go in ahead of him. You tilted your head in thanks and made your way into the family room, immediately being greeted by a chorus of ‘hellos’ from the kids. You couldn’t help but smile as you noticed El and Max all dolled up for the celebration, silently cooing over the way that Mike and Lucas were giving them love-struck gazes as they smiled and waved at you.

Little did you know, Steve was giving you that exact same gaze.

You stood in the kitchen with Nancy, helping her lay out all the snack platters even though she insisted that you go and relax with the others. 

You smiled fondly as you remembered the kids in the next room, causing Nancy to nudge you and smile as well. 

“What are you daydreaming about now?” she teased. You chuckled before grabbing one of the trays and taking it out to the family room.

“I was just thinking of how cute Mike & El and Lucas & Max are,” you spoke, stepping back into the kitchen. “As soon as I saw them, I could feel the young love in the air.”

At that precise moment, Jonathan stepped into the kitchen, walking over to Nancy before placing a soft kiss on her lips and smiling at you “Hey guys. Need any help?“

You grinned as he looked down at Nancy, almost squealing when you saw Nancy give him a dreamy smile.

“No thanks Jon,” Nancy smiled. “Thanks for offering but we’re almost done.“

Jonathan simply nodded and smiled once more before leaving the kitchen, and Nancy turned to you in surprise when you finally squealed.

“See what I mean?“ you exclaimed. “Ah young love, only making me wish I had someone to call my own.“

You swooned overdramatically, making Nancy laugh loudly as she shoved you good-naturedly.

“You do have someone,“ Nancy spoke softly.

“No I don‘t,“ you laughed. “Who?”

Nancy simply grinned as Steve came up behind you, wrapping his arm around your waist as he leaned closer. “Hey do you need any help with those?”

You turned slightly and handed Steve another tray, staring as he walked back out into the main room. You were so distracted, you didn’t hear Nancy‘s response to your question.

“You have Steve.”

Dustin collapsed onto the couch next to Nancy, sighing deeply as he looked over at you and Steve. “For fuck’s sake, I wish those two would just admit they like each other and get together already!”

Nancy flinched slightly when Mike collapsed on the other side of her, running a hand over his face in frustration. “I hope Steve makes a move soon. Seeing them talk is just awkward and pathetic.”

Nancy giggled at her brother’s words before glancing at you. Steve was making corny jokes, running his hands through his hair anxiously as he tried to keep the conversation going. 

Leaning back, Nancy sighed as well, lowering her voice as she spoke. “I agree with you. (Y/N) definitely wants to be with someone and it’s quite obvious that she likes Steve. But I doubt that either of them will make a move on the other.”

The two boys looked at Nancy in disappointment before the girl jumped up and ran upstairs, shouting a quick “follow me!” over her shoulder. 

When the boys finally caught up to her, she was in the attic, holding something behind her back and smirking triumphantly. 

“What is that?” Dustin asked, motioning towards her. “I don‘t like that look on your face.”

Nancy moved forwards and extended her hand, showing the two boys the small bundle of green that laid in her palm.

“What is that,“ Mike asked, brows furrowing.

“Son a bitch!” Dustin exclaimed. “It’s mistletoe!“

Mike and Dustin immediately volunteered to distract you while Nancy went to hang the mistletoe above you.

Dustin had chosen to completely embarrass Mike, drawing yours and Steve’s attention away from the preoccupied Nancy as Dustin told Steve about how much his hair inspired Mike.

Meanwhile, Lucas, Will, El, and Max all sat on the other couch, stifling their laughs as they noticed what Nancy was up to. Jonathan on the other hand, simply shook his head and sighed, burying his face in his hands.

“…and Mike thinks that the Farrah Fawcett spray is really working for me and he feels so self-conscious about his dorky hair that he thinks it’s time for a change,” Dustin rambled, gesticulating wildly with his hands as Steve watched him, slightly baffled. 

Dusting immediately shut up as Nancy stood straight and looked at him, giving him a thumbs up before motioning to the mistletoe, now hanging in place.

“Anyways, I’ll talk to you later Steve,” Dustin said, pulling Mike away.

“Hey!” Mike exclaimed. “My hair is not dorky! Right El?”

You couldn’t help but laugh as the girl pretended not to hear him, choosing to keep talking with Max instead of answering his question.

“Hey guys!” Nancy cried, emerging from the kitchen, a bottle of sparkling apple cider in her hands. ”You want a drink?”

You all nodded as Nancy looked across the room, her eyes lighting up as they landed on you and Steve.

“Guys,“ she gasped loudly, squealing slightly. Dustin and Mike exchanged wide smiles as the rest of the kids began to laugh.

Your eyebrows furrowed slightly and you heard Steve voice your concerns. “What? What’s wrong?“

“Look up shithead,“ Dustin cackled.

You and Steve looked up, seeing the small cluster of green hanging above you. You felt your face heat up and refused to look at Steve, too embarrassed about your situation to notice the way his face flushed as well. 

“You guys have to kiss,“ Max said through her giggles. 

You shook your head slightly as you finally looked at Steve. He was looking back at you, an uncertain look on his face. 

“Do we have to?” you whispered. No matter how much you had thought about kissing him before, you didn’t want your friendship to be ruined.

“It‘s tradition,“ Jonathan spoke up. You could hear the smirk in his voice. 

A few moments passed until Dustin finally sat up. “You guys are boring! I’m going downstairs to start our Christmas campaign. Call me if you guys decide to actually kiss.”

You could hear all the kids mutter in agreement as they all shuffled towards the basement, leaving you, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan alone.

“I‘ll be right back,“ Nancy chimed. “I have to go get glasses for the cider. Jon, come help me.”

Jonathan got up and followed Nancy, frowning as he saw Nancy stop behind the doorway of the kitchen and peek her head out, keeping an eye on you. 

Meanwhile, Steve’s heart was breaking. You didn’t want to kiss him.

You didn’t like him.

He looked up at you, noticing the way your gaze was firmly set onto the floor and the way you nervously wrung your hands. 

His heart clenched even more and he could feel tears of embarrassment burning at the back of his eyes.

You looked up at him when he subconsciously cleared his throat, meeting his eyes before glancing away. 

“We don‘t have to do it,“ Steve spoke. “Kiss, I mean. It‘s a stupid tradition anyways.”

You bit your lip as you felt your heart drop. He didn’t want to kiss you.

You nodded slightly and bit your lip harder, a startled gasp escaping your lips when you heard Steve groan loudly. 

“For fuck‘s sake (Y/N),“ Steve exclaimed, causing your eyes to widen. “Stop biting that fucking lip.“

“What do you me-“

You were cut off as your breath hitched, Steve’s hands cupping your cheeks as he leaned in dangerously close. You stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity until Steve tilted his head, asking you for permission to kiss you hesitantly, afraid of the rejection that he was almost certain that awaited him. 

You nodded your head, barely noticeable, and Steve felt his breath leave his lungs. He was finally gonna get to kiss you. 

Before he could overthink his actions, Steve swooped in, placing his lips upon yours gently. You swear you felt your heart skip a beat as Steve’s lips met yours, soft and warm and cautious, waiting for your response before he went any further. Your arms instinctively went up and wrapped around his neck, your hands finding their way into his hair as you pulled him close. 

It was a simple kiss, just two teenagers holding each other close as they finally revealed the feelings that had been long hidden beneath teasing smirks and lingering stares. 

You pulled away when you heard a camera snap, immediately turning around and glaring at Jonathan…who was struggling to take his camera back from Nancy.

As soon as Steve cleared his throat, the couple stopped fighting and Nancy gave you both a sheepish grin.

“Here,” she said stepping forwards. “Take it. It looks great.”

You grabbed the object from her hand, only now realizing that it was a polaroid from the camera she had in her hands. The picture had just finished developing and it showed you and Steve, surrounded by the twinkling Christmas lights as you shared your first kiss together.

“That does look pretty good (Y/N),” Steve whispered. “I’d like to see if we can do better though.”

You blushed heavily as you placed the polaroid down on the sofa’s armrest, causing Steve to chuckle as he leaned in and kissed you once more. 

“Guys! Get up here, they’re kissing!”

Dustin’s voice quickly caused you both to break apart, laughing loudly at the younger boy’s voice. 

“They are not kissing Dustin,” Max’s bored voice called out tiredly. 

“Oh really?” Dustin smirked. “If they weren’t kissing then how come-” he pulled the polaroid out from behind his back “-this exists?”

The kids all gasped and crowded him, each clamoring to get ahold of the picture and letting out shouts of “I knew it” when they finally caught a glimpse of it. 

“Hey!” Steve cried out. “How did you get that you little shit!”

Dustin’s face dropped before he began to run. “Magic, Steve. Magic!”

You chuckled as Steve began to chase Dustin, smiling widely when he caught the younger boy and began messing up his hair. Hearing your laugh, Steve looked up and winked at you, causing a blush to cover your face. 

“You are so whipped dude!” Dustin exclaimed.

“Shut up shithead!” Steve replied smoothly, taking back the polaroid.

As you sat back, suffering through the kids’ endless teasing, you couldn’t help but think one thing. 

This had to be the best Christmas party ever.

Tags: @delicrieux, @broken-pieces, @toekeery, @stanleyurisalive, @tapetayloe, @thekidsofneibolt

[ahouseoflies]

The Best Films of 2019, Part IV

Part III, Part II, Part I PRETTY PRETTY GOOD MOVIES

62. Shazam! (David F. Sandberg)- One of the most comic-booky movies to come around in a while in the sense that it seems to be in fast forward for the first third, using shorthands because it has too much story to tell. I am sad to report that Shazam! has no Movie Stars in it, and I didn't realize how essential those were to the superhero genre. There is a cagey standalone quality to its modest bets though. I like that it's anchored in a real place and isn't afraid to be a little too scary for kids. I would see it mostly as a product of potential though, for a funny Jack Dylan Grazer, for the filmmakers, and for the studio. As a student of weird billing, I have so many questions about Adam Brody getting awarded fifth lead for a bit part.

61. Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant)- Dwayne Johnson as producer feels like the auteur here, since the formulaic story has more to do with his combed-over, please-everyone persona than with Stephen Merchant's more messy, improvisatory style. I couldn't care less about the time spent on Jack Lowden's brother character, but I was impressed with the physical part of Florence Pugh's performance. This is a movie you've seen a hundred times, but it hits most of its marks skillfully. 60. Spider-Man: Far From Home (Jon Watts)- This is a movie in which a spurned tech innovator uses drone projectors to stage a battle in which he defeats an elemental water monster to save Venice. The best sequence is one in which a boy tries to trick his friends into letting him sit next to the girl he likes on a flight.  59. John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum (Chad Stahelski)- What a criticism it is to claim that the filmmakers give in too much to fanservice, especially since I don't know what that word means anymore if something like this is the monoculture. So they gave us, the audience, what we wanted, and I was upset that it was two hours and ten minutes? Seriously though, have you ever eaten too much ice cream? 58. Fyre (Chris Smith)- An interesting yarn that gets at the foolishness of Internet influencing better than anything else that I've seen. I was surprised by how distant many of the subjects seemed, as if only the Big Bad Billy was responsible for any misleading. And I was grateful that, despite the level of criminality on display, it was still as funny as the tweets were at the time. The film lacks shape though, and it would be nice to have somebody smart on hand to answer questions. Can someone explain to me why it's so important that the island used to be Pablo Escobar's? Why should I want to be like Pablo Escobar? 57. Leaving Neverland (Dan Reed)- Part 1 works because of the striking similarities in the parallel stories, as well as the subjects' perspicacious understanding of their own emotions and childhood psychology. So Part 2 gets extremely frustrating when these men, who have already proven how articulate they are, seem puzzled by the obvious psychological problems they have as adults. 56. Diane (Kent Jones)- This movie is kind of good when it's purely slice-of-life, before it declares what it is. It's very good once it declares itself as a routine of self-flagellation, a sort of Raging Bull for women with multiple recipes for tater tot hotdish. It's a little less good when it speeds up and goes back on that thesis near the end. For the record, I think Mary Kay Place is fine. I don't get the critical adoration.

55. Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher)- If the choice is Bohemian Rhapsody or this, then I'll take this every time. Unlike the former, Elton John's life doesn't present an obvious high point in the second half or easy conflict for the first half. As a result, the relationships within John's family seem broad with manufactured conflict. (His birth father's hardness isn't that far off from Walk Hard's "wrong kid died.") But there's an authenticity here that's refreshing, a respect to the unique friendship between Elton and Bernie and a respect for the transformative power of the music. That sincerity extends to Egerton's generous performance, which nails the self-effacing Elton John smile. So there are some biopic structural problems that can't be helped, but if only to admire the '80s fits that Elton gets off, attention must be paid. 54. Triple Frontier (J.C. Chandor)- A useful example for differentiating between tropes and cliches of the action drama genre. For someone who gets less amped than I do for dudes meeting in a shipping container to have a conversation about how "now is the time to get out," it's probably full of cliches. For fans of hyper-masculine parables about getting a team together (that are also sort of meta-commentaries on their lead actor's fallen star), it's full of tropes. 53. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Mike Mitchell)- The plot is nearly incoherent, and the sequel isn't really satirizing anything like the first one was. But the jokes come at a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker clip. A character in a car chase saying, "It's like she knows my every move" before a cut reveals he's been using turn signals? That's some Frank Drebin stuff. 52. Long Shot (Jonathan Levine)- Jonathan Levine has carved out an interesting directorial space for himself, with a career far different from what I imagined when I saw and loved The Wackness, a film to which I'm a little afraid to return. Levine is making, at the highest level possible ($40 million budget?), the types of movies that we claim don't get made anymore. A one-crazy-night Christmas comedy, an adventure comedy, and now a political romantic comedy, all with top flight Movie Stars. Long Shot seems like a rare opportunity to put Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron together and do something special, and what we come out with is...cute. For every good decision the film makes--what a supporting cast, all playing rounded characters--it makes a bad one--leaning too heavily into Rogen's patented "I don't really know what we're yelling about" delivery. The music is uninspired, but the presidential satire is pretty clever. The rhythm of the film is jagged and doesn't really cut together, but the script is very fair to the Theron character. Even in the general tone of the film's politics, it declares a few ideals, but those positions are still too neutral and obvious. I had a good time, but in a more capable director's hands, this experience wouldn't feel like math. 51. Isn’t It Romantic (Todd Strauss-Schulson)- So frothy that it almost doesn't believe in itself, especially near the end, but I found myself laughing a lot. Regarding the gay best friend, I'm very interested in the space of politically incorrect humor that is acceptable only because the work has built up self-awareness in other areas. That's a difficult negotiation, but this movie balances it. 50. Yesterday (Danny Boyle)- There's one twist that stretches the moral center of the film, and two minutes later there's a twist that's probably just a bridge too far in good taste. Other than that, this is a really cute Richard Curtis script, and it's nice to hear "Hey Jude" on movie speakers. 49. Ready or Not (Radio Silence)- Short and spicy, despite one or two too many twists. I'm in the front row of the Adam Brody Revival, but I appreciated the movie more as an exercise in the paranoid misery built into wealth. I wish I could have written the line down, but Alex says something like, "I didn't realize how much you could do just because your family said that it was okay," and that's the whole film. If you can, see it without watching the trailer first.

48. The Laundromat (Steven Soderbergh)- Mary Ann Bernard is a Steven Soderbergh pseudonym, but what if he did hire an outside editor? What if someone saved him from himself? It's hard to believe that Meryl Streep is the heart of the film--if the film's thesis is "The meek will inherit the Earth?"--if we go on a twenty-minute detour to an African family and a ten-minute detour to China. I laughed quite a bit, and I admire the audacity of the ending. But this is a movie that knows what it's about without knowing how to be about it.

47. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh)- As a person who can cite most NBA players' cap figures off the top of my head, I should love High Flying Bird, a movie about a sports agent who tries to topple the system during an NBA lockout. Instead I liked it okay. It takes an hour to kick into high gear, but once it does, some self-contained scenes are powerhouses, and the writer of Moonlight was always going to provide an emotional kick that is sometimes absent from Soderbergh's work. Like Soderbergh's Unsane from last year, High Flying Bird is shot on an iPhone, an appropriate form given that the execution is a do-it-yourself parable that takes place mostly inside. Soderbergh is a man who has always tried to trade the ossified system of moviemaking for experimentation, so most reviews have pointed toward the meta quality of capturing a character doing that same thing in another medium. Like most of his post-retirement work, however, I find myself asking one question: "Would anyone care if this were made by another director?" 46. Piercing (Nicolas Pesce)- Good sick fun with a taste for the theatrical. I saw twist one and twist three coming, but twist two was ingenious. It ends the only way it can, which is okay. 45. Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)- At first the film is hard to acclimate to, stylized as it is into a very specific but absurd setting, counteracted by a very specific and realistic relationship. The music cues are all awful until the Perfume Genius one, which is so perfect that it erases the half-dozen clunkers.But it's smartly funny, funnily warm, and warmly smart. The screenplay does some clever things with swapping the protagonists' wants and needs at crucial times. Molly will have an obvious drive that overrides Amy's fear, and then a few scenes later, there will be an organic reversal. 44. Joker (Todd Phillips)- Joker presents more ideas than it cogently lands. I don't disagree with Amanda Dobbins's burn that it feels more like a vision board than a coherent story. Still, its success kind of fascinates me. This dark provocation, shot on real locations, has way more in common with Phoenix entries like You Were Never Really Here than it does with the DCEU. In fact, the comic book shoehorns feel like intrusions into a story about a guy who likes to Jame Gumb skinny-dance. Dunk on me if you want, but I think it's most eerie and affecting as a portrait of mental illness. Whereas Joker is a criminal mastermind in Batman lore, this is a guy helpless enough to scrawl into a notebook, "The worst part about having a mental illness is pretending to people that you don't." And that idea gets borne out in a scene in which he's pausing and rewinding a tape to study how a talk show guest sits and waves like a regular person. It's rare enough to see a person this mentally ill depicted on screen; it's even rarer to see someone this aware of his own isolation and otherness.