#fake hallmark movie plots

[fakehallmarkmovieplots]

Tangled Limbs

this is a movie for Arbor Day. it’s about two hot bisexuals who have a chance encounter at the lake, they go swimming together and it’s great. But they had to take off their prosthetic legs before swimming and accidentally put on the wrong leg and don’t notice right away. They figure it out on their respective flights back to their East/West coast homes (they met at an undisclosed National Park in Middle America). the bulk of the movie is both of them trying to figure out how to get in touch with the other but also inexplicably getting flashes of the other’s feelings because they are now Tangled through their Limbs. in the end they meet up and exchange legs and are in love.

[toonin4drama]

First and every other: Charles Cottier

Second, etc.: Kristopher Turner

[artist-issues]

so here's something I'm curious about: God's Not Dead. The films, not the statement itself.

I first saw the first film when I was younger and I hadn't yet embarked on my journey on examining just what i was taught and what I truly believed, but I remember finding the film a little uncomfortable.

I saw the second film and Ive never watched the third, and I think what I really don't like the first film is how it bashes other people's walks of life (Muslim father, three brands of athiests, and how it continues the myth that Christians in The United States are being Persecuted for their Faith Right Now.

Oh yeah and how the plots are really really dumb too, since the first film centers around a philosophy class with a professor that is skipping a very important part of most College degrees and the second takes place in a Bible Belt State with a high school teacher answering a students question comparing Marting Luther King Jr to Jesus's Sermon on the Mount and being taken to court over it.

I was twelve or so when I saw that movie and I honestly was not convinced by the film That God's Not Dead (in terms of the actual arguments in the class scenes.

The specific Denomination that I grew up with (Adventist) focuses a LOT™ on the end times so I do know about the future persecution thing well but like, I don't think we're there yet.

Anyway if you don't know those movies, feel free to ignore this ask but I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts on them, wether positive or negative or neutral

Hi! I saw the first God’s Not Dead in theaters. Never re-watched it. Did not see the sequels.

The good thing about God’s Not Dead is that people worked hard to make something that might shine a counter-cultural light on the truth that the God of the Bible exists. Stories that try to point to truth are on the right track, baseline.

The bad thing about God’s Not Dead is that it took things that are real, and genuine, and true…and it made them feel fake. By telling the story with strange conclusions and weird-triumph moments.

The thesis of the movie, that God is not dead, is something that only non-Christians would need to be convinced of. But the movie is clearly made for Christians. So. Yeah, it’s uncomfortable.

But you shouldn’t find every experience that the movie tries to portray uncomfortable because they don’t happen. You should find it uncomfortable because they don’t happen in that cheesy, Hallmark-grade way.

When a student stands up to their professor and says, “no, I’m not going to go along with this, and this is super weird that you’re trying to draw this line about the specific Christian God,” guess what? The whole classroom doesn’t usually get up and agree with you. They normally barely react. So even though some professors do put their foot down and try to mock or “kill” God in the classroom, and some students do push back, no. It doesn’t normally happen in that victorious way.

Just like how some young Muslim converts to Christianity genuinely are treated poorly by their families, or their community, not just in America, but absolutely, certainly around the world. Absolutely, certainly. I literally can think of not one, but two examples I’ve recently heard of, directly, from people I know.

Like I said, the events and life-experiences that the first God’s Not Dead movie are based on do technically happen all the time in America, and the West, and the world in general. They just don’t normally come with crowd-agreement, impactful music, wise one-liners, and celebrity appearances. The worst thing that the God’s Not Dead movie does is show you hints of things that are real, and really happen in real life, but cheeseball way it shows you those things, and the caricatures it turns people into, makes the real thing look fake.

As far as “the myth that Christians are Persecuted Right Now in America” goes…you just have to decide what you mean by “persecuted.”

If you mean, are we getting our heads run over by cement mixers, or dragged out of our homes and imprisoned for studying or even owning a Bible, or kidnapped by hired hitmen once our families find out we’re Christians, like they are in Yemen or Africa or basically anywhere outside the West…no. No, we’re not facing persecution like that. We’re not persecuted.

But if you mean, in the context of this conversation, that “atheists and professors and people in the professional sector of our education systems don’t have a weirdly specific bone to pick with Christians,”then you’re wrong. They do. They have. For a long time.

My second semester in college, in my plain old World History class, the Professor legitimately opened his class by explaining to us students that if we wanted, he would allow us to replace our midterm and our final exams with book reports as long as we read two specific books he assigned us. One was a book about how Jesus of Nazareth was not the Messiah and the Bible was false. The other book was a fictional short novel with heavy themes criticizing specifically Christian religion. Those were the two books he picked for his students to skip taking the midterm and the final, if only they would read those two books. And those were the ones he chose.

Not only that, but literally in the first class, I remember being stunned when he flippantly opened his summary of the 18th century by saying, “If anyone ever tells you you should check out the God of the Bible, and follow him, laugh in their face. Don’t do it. He is the kind of God who likes to make His people promises and then strand them in the desert for forty years!” First class. Out the gate. Like it was a joke.

It’s not a joke. Dude just openly mocked two out of the three major world religions that people identify with across the globe. Explain to me how telling someone never to convert to a specific religion and to mock it instead is anything other than “discrimination?”

Can you imagine a Professor getting up in front of a class and saying, “if anyone ever tells you that you should check out Allah ] and follow him, convert to Islam, laugh in their face! And here’s one short novel and one historically inaccurate essay criticizing Allah and making fun of Islam; if you’ll read these, tell you what, I’ll let you skip the two most stressful exams of the semester!”

No, of course you can’t imagine that. A Professor who did that about any other religion, creed, or god would be fired or taken to court or penalized or dragged on social media, at least. But the only student in the whole room who batted an eye when he said that about the Christian God was me. The only one who said anything was me. And it wasn’t a big stand up, dramatic declaration. Momentous music didn’t play in the background. My friends and classmates didn’t’] gasp or support me or stand up and agree with me.

It was just me raising my hand and saying in a shaky voice with a red face, after the sixth time he’d randomly deviated from talking about the Roman plumbing system to describe how the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles supposedly disagreed about who Jesus was (big lie, not true at all, but often used to “discredit” the Bible) to say, “sir, that’s not true. It doesn’t make sense. There’s a verse in the Bible where the Apostle Peter literally tells the church that the Apostle Paul’s words are directly from God.” And then he was like, “okay, I’m going to move on.”

I mean I just felt kind of stupid because the whole class was confused about the interaction; nobody was treating it like it was as important as me or the professor was, so it felt awkward to “make a stand.” But rest assured, all over the freakin’ country, people are excited to use up way too much of their brain power and emotional energy mocking, disparaging, and trying to discredit the God of the Bible and Christianity. They don’t believe in Him, but they’re so he’ll-bent on making sure nobody else does either?? Like, I don’t believe in Big Foot, but I’m not walking around trying to barter my students into reading anti-Big Foot books by giving them a pass on their midterms. But that’s how lots and lots of “athiests” treat the specific Christian God.

That’s not new. It’s not dramatic. It’s not persecution. It’s alllll part of the same old song and dance.

But it is real. The worst thing about God’s Not Dead is it made it feel fake and caricature, when it happens all the time and matters 🤷‍♀️ Anyway. Hope that answered your question.

[scholastic-dragon]

Movie Night 🎬

Move night headcannons with the TMNT boys

Warnings: it'll rot your teeth (sweet sweet fluffy goodness)

Movie nights with the turtles boys is the epitome of comfort

But movie night starts early evening with a grand dinner (it's splinters rule)

It's his fatherly instincts to feed all the people in his household

Sometimes you, April, Casey, and Vern take turns on getting take out

But a majority of the time Mikey and you cook. Yes, you and Mikey.

Doesn't matter if you're dating or not, yall both be in the kitchen.

Mikey firmly believes cooking together is a love language and loves to do it with you, no matter what you're relationship is.

If you're his girlfriend, he loves showing you how to cook his favorite dishes and covering his hands in flour and making hand marks on your ass and boobs

He adores this time with you <3

If you're friends with the guys or dating one of his brothers, he sees this as bonding time.

He sees you as a sibling and wants to show how much he adores you and how happy you've made his brother(s)

After you all (yes all) have sat down at the dining table and had dinner: its movie time

You got blankets, you got never ending snacks, you've got commentary from Mikey and Donnie and Raph telling them to shut up. And then Leo shushing them all.

These boys will NOT turn down snuggles if you ask

Doesn't matter if it's simply you laying your head on their shoulder or putting yourself in their lap, or sitting in between their legs resting against their chest

Raph likes action/adventure movies, something with cool fight scenes, a car chase, some romance, and slow motion explosions. He doesn't like really gorry or nasty bloody films, he prefers pg-13 violence.

Mikey likes long sagas or franchises, or even shows. He likes binge watching anything. Romance, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, action, etc. He enjoys several different types of movies. But his favorite is space or sci-fi and fantasy, stuff that's really cool but sadly fake.

Lots of people think that Donnie only watches documentaries and I don't think that's true. Yes, he loves a good documentary, but I feel like he enjoys "history" movies with small twists or ones that aren't entirely accurate. Like the 'Mummy' movies with Brendan Fraser. He likes romance movies but would prefere a sci-fi film with a romance sub-plot *cough* star wars *cough*

Speaking of star wars, Mikey and Donnie constantly binge the entire franchise, they've seen all the movies and shows and will quote them the entire time. (It's really cute)

Leo likes mystery movies, shocking I know, but he likes to try and solve it before the end. He's a sap for Hallmark Christmas Movies, he likes romance okay. He likes action movies involving some form of martial arts (especially if one of the characters has katanas)

Leo and Donnie like to make bets before any mystery movie about how it ends. The score is 6-8 (Leo's in the lead shockingly)

If you're like me and don't like people getting sick (🤢🤮) (that type of sick) they will mute the TV, and or cover you ears and eyes so you don't have to see it.

Same thing with flashing and bright lights on the screen.

Leo and Mikey places bets on who falls asleep first. It's always Raph or Donnie.

If Splinters in the room, no one makes dirty comments or jokes about what's on the TV. But the second he leaves all bets are off.

After the movie(s) you'll either be escorted home by your favorite boy or you'll spend the night.

The best nights are when you fall asleep in your turtles arms, all warm and snuggly after a long week.

[wangxianficfinder]

Holiday Compilation

~*~

💙A forgotten pair of gloves by myhouseofstoneyourivygrows (M, 43k, wangxian, LWJ & LSZ & WWX, LXC & NMJ, modern, anxiety attacks, implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/referenced past child abuse, hurt/comfort, light angst, yunmeng sibling dynamics, not Jiang clan friendly, chronic illness, adoption, fluff, happy ending, hopeful end for jiang sibs, Christmas) — this fic has unfortunately been deleted

with peaceful wings unfurled by sunflowersfield (T, 9k, WangXian, Modern AU, Christmas, College/University, Fluff, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Minor Character Death, (Lan Qiren passes away before the story begins), Grief/Mourning, First Dates, First Kiss)

Close to the Truth by Winglesss (M, 14k, WangXian, Modern AU, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, Romantic Comedy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Tooth-Rotting Fluff)

he gets under your skin by Skadiseven (M, 87k, WangXian, Inspired By While You Were Sleeping (1995), Modern AU, Accidental Engagement, Chicago (City), wangxian's tendency to self-sacrifice, Christmas, Mutual Pining, There's A LOT of Musical References, Slow Burn, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Do You Feel What I Feel? by istartedtheapocalypse (M, 33k, WangXian, Modern AU, Kid Fic, kid fic ish, wangxian in a hallmark christmas movie but hornier, and with slightly more plot and angst, the background XiYao has lighter than canon levels of toxicity but it is still a lil toxic, Holidays, Christmas)

The Maine Thing (Is That You Send A Card) by Comfect (T, 16k, WangXian, Modern AU, Romance, Excessive Use of Rom-Com Tropes, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, Meet-Cute, Snowed In, Slow Burn, But Not That Slow A Burn, finding yourself, Cozy, Libraries)

A Very Hallmark Untamed Christmas by User_Shay_Wade (M, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Small Town, Attempt at Humor, Reference to anal sex, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies)

hurry down my chimney tonight by gusuvibes (G, 20k, WangXian, Modern AU, dad!lwj, WWX and JC are Santa's Elves, Holiday Setting, A-Yuan is too smart for his own good, Fluff and Humor, NHS is a pimp, but not literally, Happy Ending, Surprise Santas, Christmas)

The Mistletoe Virgin by Vamillepudding (G, 12k, WangXian, Modern AU, Romantic Comedy, Friends to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Deaf LWH, Christmas)

💖 sweet chaos by eachandeverydimension (G, 86k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence, Fluff, Romance, Light Angst, Falling In Love, Different First Meeting, Qīnghéng-jūn's A+ Parenting, Night Hunts, Chinese Language, Good Sibling LXC, Good Sibling JYL, POV LWJ, Getting Together, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Chinese Culture, Slow Burn, No Homophobia AU, Chinese festivals)

"Congratulations, Get Rich" by Attila (T, 9k, WangXian, Modern AU, Chinese New Year, sibling shenanigans, Dumbasses, Humor)

An Accurate (Anachronic) Jianghu Christmas Carol by Mikkeneko (T, 7k, Minor WangXian, Inspired by A Christmas Carol, Crack, Christmas Crack, Breaking the Fourth Wall) - Dickens fusion; a lot of the fun comes from the MDZS characters remaining stubbornly themselves while shoehorned into the Christmas Carol roles, and lampshading the incompatibility of the crossover—and the author reminds us of the inherent hilarity of Dickens’ original prose

Cornday by Lan_zhans, WangXianPatriarch (T, 2k, WangXian, Pining WWX, Fluff, Tickling, Teasing, Flirting, Halloween, POV Alternating, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon) - WWX’s birthday plans are disrupted by a night hunt that involves chasing a haunted scarecrow through a maize field

Tips on Rabbit Husbandry by Full_Metal_Ox (G, 329, WangXian, Fluff, Rabbits, Extended Metaphors, Animal Metaphors, Easter (?)) - posted on Easter Sunday 2019; pet rabbit care as an extended metaphor for Wangxian’s relationship

Praying for Cleverness by x_los (G, 3k, WangXian, Female WWX, Qixi, Gender Changes, Always a Different Sex, Accidental Marriage, Marriage, Festivals, Holidays, Awkwardness, Fist Fights, Pining, Crushes, Sisters, Episode 7)

definitions of home by sasamelons (G, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Modern: No Powers, Childhood Friends, Growing Up, Diaspora, Parent-Child Relationship, Sibling Bonding, Chinese New Year, Chinese Food, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Family Fluff, Family Feels)

what part of party don't you understand by wildwestwind (T, 1k, WangXianNing, Modern AU, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Cultural Differences, Trans Female WWX, Kid Fic)

Wish on a Dandelion by Cupids_arrow (G, 5k, XiCheng, WangXian, Modern AU, Qixi, Established Relationship, Self-Esteem Issues, First Dates, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Sad and Sweet, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff)

if nothing else (let's dance under the stars) by EllaYuki (G, 865, WangXian, Qixi, Fluff, Post-Canon, LWJ POV)

Preparing the Soil by Rynne (T, 26k, wangxian, post-canon, established relationship, family issues, Chinese holidays, Chinese New Year, not JC friendly)

A Flower in Bloom (or Wei Wuxian Crashes a Party) by UmbrellaMartialGod (E, 30k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Crossdressing, Humor, Fluff and Smut, Established Relationship, Festivals, Dancer WWX, Insecurity, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, Porn with Feelings, mild possessive behavior, New Year)

Let Food Be Your Medicine by bigolegay (M, 9k, WangXian, mid-autumn festival, Baking, Food as a Metaphor for Love, WWX centric, Minor Original Character(s), mooncakes, Caiyi Town, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, Kissing, Food as a Vessel for Grief, JYL in flashbacks/thoughts) - Mid-Autumn Festival; WWX, wishing to present LWJ with lotus seed cakes, learns mooncake-making from Gusu villagers; a lengthy exercise in Food Porn, with detailed descriptions of the cooking process

藕断丝连 by RoseThorne (G, 458, WangXian, LSZ & LWJ, Grief/Mourning, Memory Loss, Memories, POV Third Person, POV LSZ, Rituals, lotuses, Qingming Festival)

Christmas Star by LadyVamp (E, 45k, WangXian, XiCheng, XuanLi, Modern AU, Romance, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, Christmas Fluff, Romantic Comedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Smut, Misunderstandings, Happy JC, Eventual Smut)

To heal and nurture by Aki_no_hikari (G, 11k, wangxian, post-canon, memories, married couple, fluff, festivals, healing, light angst, TGCF Crossover, fictional village harvest festival in honor of Yushi Huang, probably amounting to Mid-Autumn Festival)

WangXian Christmas Stories by @mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess

see you yesterday by glyphic (M, 138k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, Modern with Magic, Ghost Hunters, Time Loop, Case Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Memory Loss, Angst with a Happy Ending, Slow Burn, Halloween)

5 TOTALLY TRUE STORIES OF THE YILING PATRIARCH TO TURN YOUR HAIR WHITE!!!!! (and one story that actually happened) by dragonofeternal (T, 2k, LSZ & WWX, Parody, Crack, Listicle, slander, 5+1 Things, Fluff, Ghosts, Hungry Ghost Festival in the +1)

merry christmas ya filthy animal by belovedmuerto (T, 7k, XuanLi, WangXian, Modern AU, Family, Southern California, Christmas)

The Joy of Storytelling / 桃花運 by Irrelevancy (G, 4k, Songxiao; modern AU, Kid Fic, Daycare, Qixi, Mutual Pining, single dad!SL, canonically horrible storytelling XXC)

Qingming by hanbunnotsuki (G, 2k, WangXian, Traditions, Qingming festival)

clear and bright | 清明 by queerebrum (G, 1k, JingZhen, Qingming Festival, Post-Canon, Orphans, Public Display of Affection, Grief/Mourning, these tags are scary, i promise it's soft)

覆水难收 (spilled water cannot be reclaimed) by fieryrondo (T, 3k, JC & WWX, grief/mourning, canonical character death, 2nd person pov, musical instruments, character study, JC centric, Qingming, Hungry Ghost Festival)

if you sing deck the halls one more time i'll deck your face by lao_you_tiao (T, 1k, 3zun, JC, JL, and WWX, modern, fluff & humor, Christmas)

Trash_Candy_XU’s whole MDZS tag is a series of holiday shortfics following Wangxian through the 2020 calendar: character birthdays as well as both Chinese and Western holidays.

The Gift Exchange by tellthemstories (T, 10k, WangXian, Modern AU, modern cultivator au, they’re all teachers, gift exchanges, Denial of Feelings, everyone knows, Christmas)

Harvest Festival Times Two by theleakypen (G, 2k, Wens & WWX, MXY & WWX, MM & WWX, Modern AU, New York City, technically also a college au but that barely matters, Sukkot | Tabernacles, mid-autumn festival, Extended Families, Synagogue-Assigned Party Guests, Chinese Jewish Characters, Best Friends, Background Relationships) - diasporic Chinese Jewish Wen Remnants host a joint Sukkot/Mid-Autumn Festival

a good night | full heart full belly by frostferox (G, 2k, WangXian, Modern AU, Hanukkah, Wangxian adopts MXY)

Reclamation (where you can see the glow) by theLoyalRoyalGuard (G, 3k, LXC & LWJ, Post-Canon, Hanukkah, fluff and feelings, Family Feels) - the Twin Jades, going through their mother’s effects, learn that she was Jewish

The Fellow-Travelers by Val Mora (valmora) (G, 944, Slice of Life, written for Hanukkah) - SL and XXC are invited to share a campfire by some traveling OC Jewish mystics (who use the terms “Dao” and “cultivators” in a code-switching sense

Summer's End by flowercity (FaoriE) (M, 3k, WangXian, Fae & Fairies, Mutual Pining, Wet Dream, very vaguely described, Samhain, birthday fic)

sweet as the winter sun by Joythea (G, 1k, WangXian, Fluff, Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Secret Santa, Winter Solstice, Domestic Fluff, Post-Canon Fluff, Making Tangyuan together, Eating Together, Tooth-Rotting Fluff)

Fun With The Easter Bunny by WangXian4Ever77 (E, 4k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, LWJ as the Easter Bunny, Easter Egg Hunt, tail pulling, Butt Squeezing, Annoyed Easter Bunny, Easter Bunny Kink, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Rabbit Puns, sneaky WWX, Playful Lying, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Kissing, Rope Bondage, Rough Sex)

Sisters of the Moon by honeylotus (E, 9k, WangXian, Semi-Public Sex, Fix-It of Sorts, Fisting, f/f Wangxian, Winter Solstice (Wiccan/Pagan))

yeh ladka hai allah by teorusu (G, 18k, WangXian, Modern AU, Islam, Islamic References, muslims in omegaverse, A/B/O Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Misunderstandings, Omega LWJ, Alpha WWX, contrary to popular belief : this is sfw, Banter, Scenting, Fluff, Eid, Ramadan)

We Wish You A Logical Christmas by little_ogre (M, 9k, WangXian, Star Trek AU, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending, Going to Vulcan for Christmas, WWX is Vulcan, LWJ is human, what could go wrong, Pon Farr)

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Lan JingYi by DragonsPhoenix (G, <1k, LJY, linus van Pelt, Peanuts crossover, developing friendship, halloween, Great Pumpkin)

A Koi Tower Christmas by East_Of_Akkala, glitterlessgold490 (T, 14k, WIP, MM/QS, XuanLi, Modern AU, POV MY, POV MXY, POV QS, POV JZX, MXY has ADHD, Sugar gliders, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Humor, Crack and Angst, Child JL, holiday parties, Himbo JZX, Most of the Trigger Warnings in This Story are JGS, Past Infidelity, Ableism, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Christmas)

Tofurkey Day by East_Of_Akkala & glitterlessgold490 (T, 10k, LXC/JGY, LXC/NMJ, pre-3zun, wangxian, modern, diasporic AU, humor, crack, polyamory, secret relationship, brotherly love, sibling dynamics of all sorts, WWX has ADHD, autistic LWJ, smart NHS, Thanksgiving (U.S.) ) Extended family Thanksgiving dinner at the Lans’, with personality, dietary, and political clashes, little kids, pets running amuck, and the characters being themselves Up To Eleven.

Ornaments Under the Stars by trippednfell (M, 6k, wangxian, modern, inspired by hallmark christmas movies, kid fic, disabled character, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, WIP)

I Want to Spend this Christmas with You! by cheese_fish (G, 4k, wangxian, modern, christmas, fluff)

another ghost walks down the hall by isshun (G, 2k, wangxian, modern, hurt/comfort, Hungry Ghost Festival, Chinese rites & rituals)

forever can never be long enough for me by isshun (T, 12k, LWJ & JYL, wangxian, modern, established relationship, food as a metaphor for love, Winter Solstice (Dongzhi), hurt/comfort, bonding, loving WWX hours)

Five Shades of Home by DrPanda99 (G, 13k, WangXian, Chinese New Year, Grief/Mourning, Introspection, Hurt/Comfort, Homecoming, WWX's Canonical Self-Esteem Issues, Domesticity, Yunmeng Brothers Reconciliation, (or at least the start of it), Good Uncle LQR, Post-Canon)

The Nines of Winter by ArcadianMaggie (E, 13k, WangXian, Modern AU, Dongzhi, Snowed In, Sharing a Bed, Hot Cocoa, Getting Back Together, home for the holidays, Puppy rescue, Panic Attacks, LWJ's Pet Rabbits, maybe just a tiny bit of angst, Fluff and Smut, and family feels, Hand Jobs, Kissing, First Time)

Make My Wish Come True by justpeace (T, 9k, wangxian, modern cultivation, gender changes, fem wangxian, Christmas, fake/pretend relationship, sharing a bed, case fic, getting together, angst, butch LWJ)

Fall in Love with me this Christmas by Bldreaming (Not Rated, 24k, WangXian, Modern AU, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas wedding, JYL Lives, Good Sibling JYL, JYL and JZX Live, Married XuanLi, man of honor wwx, Best woman Minamian, Reunions, Fluff and Smut, Secret Santa, Sexting, Phone Sex Blow Jobs, Semi-Public Sex, not a slow burn, Winter Wonderland, Yanli loves christmas, Christmas Music, Christmas Presents, Christmas, Smut Getting Together, First Love) - implied/referenced switching during phone sex

~*~

[shipcestuous]

I need a cute, cheesy romance Christmas movie with a brother and sister.

We need this and deserve this so much.

I was recently reading the plot of a new Christmas romance about a military guy of some kind and he hires this professional quilter to help him make a quilt for his sister. And she's his love interest of course. And I was like, "OK, I want to know more about the brother/sister relationship here. We're focusing on the wrong thing."

We should have some kind of event some time. Participants make up their own bro/sis Hallmark-style Christmas romance. 100-200 word plot summary, fake poster, and one of those fabulous titles, of course.

[selfsabotaqe]

paying good $$$ for someone to let me play courtney eaton, davika hoorne, nicholas galitzine, jessica alexander, logan lerman, xavier serrano, greta onieogou, ayca aysin turan, kim doyeon, chase sui wonders, maia cotton, drew starkey, taylor zakhar perez, gracie abrams, lola tung & apo nattawin in a plot on discord. open to anything in terms of pairings and any slice of life plots, but there's some specific ideas down below 🥹

any generic mumu. looking to generally start with a maximum of four muses each, but i would love mumus with ships with intertwined plots. the floor of an apartment building? college friends? high school friend group getting together for a reunion? band on tour? travelers staying in the same hostel room? sports team with wags? go wild. specifically for mumus, i would prefer writing a variety of pairings including same sex couples, and writing (against) a mix of men, women and non binary muses. so i ask partners are open to writing a variety of muses in terms of gender and sexuality themselves. i'll always be down for m/f plots as well, but i am not interested in just doubling up for the sake of it.

any sports plots. rival athletes to lovers? teammates who hook up constantly (no homo) but are in denial about feeling more? athlete and the no nonsense journalist who makes their life hell, but they are kinda into it? athlete and their celebrity significant other, who could be a real couple or fake dating? athlete and assistant coach, or team medic, or pr manager? mumu with multiple plots within the same sports league or team? especially looking for soccer, formula one or hockey (because i know most about those) but open to other options.

enemies to lovers based on jake and amy from brooklyn nine nine. two coworkers stuck in a work performance rivalry that's slowly turning more and more romantic. lawyers trying to win cases? servers or bartenders trying to make the most tips?

any cliche hallmark holiday movie plots but add more to it. pretend to be my significant other for the holidays? i've been stuck in a snowstorm in this town/city away from home? i'm visiting my family far away from where i live and oh shit, there's a really hot local? i'm visiting my family in my home town for the holidays, and my childhood best friend is giving me butterflies? just give me cliches, give me one trying to teach the other how to ice skate, give me hot cocoa in front of the fire, give me hooking up in their childhood bedroom and trying to keep the noise down for the family downstairs.

give me any (modern) royalty au. heirs from rival countries being forced into marriage to form a political alliance? prince secretly hooking up with one of his guards? unknowing american traveling to this small european country where they by chance meet one of the royals?

enemies with benefits plots in any capacity. sports setting? academic rivals? neighbours who drive each other mad playing loud music too late at night? just these vibes.

potentially something based off this, but maybe combined with a "muse a thinks they're enemies while muse b has been flirting all along" plot. very open to make this m/m or f/f as well.

very legal (don't make it weird!!!!!) age gap plots where maybe for once they do think it's difficult. maybe they're at different places in their life? maybe one of them wants kids and the other doesn't? maybe they just moved in together and they're having a ton of fights? maybe they want something different out of their relationships? could also be combined with any of the above tbh.

[henrysglock]

So, rambling a bit about what I've been talking about re: things that feel like copycatting between El and Henry re: TFS and the whole suicide of '61 thing...There are some things that really rattle about the whole situation, especially when we compare what we've seen of Henry to what we've seen of El with the context of ST4 and NINA.

It seems to me that TFS might be setting Henry up to have been a sort of Will-El-Mike mashup as a child. He's got the rich family and social pressures of Mike, the sensitivity of Will, and the powers/otherness of El.

Henry and El both hold the same kind of attitude re: their place in society (or lack thereof):

Which may tie in with Will's experience in Lenora: Feeling like an outcast freak based on old experiences, but being somewhat well-liked and flying under the radar at a new school.

However, Henry and El both seem willing to use their abilities to help other people, regardless:

(and I have more to say about these exact pictures in a different post)

There's hallmarks of possible gate powers for both of them, not just El:

And we even have a fake-out suicide in ST1 El:

Much like I spoke about here with Henry being 14, a freshman, in 1961 and the last Hawkins suicide, unnamed, being in 1961:

Like...we all see how this smells, right? We all see the cycles here?

However, I also want to pull in something else I talked about a while back: Inception and NINA.

If you don't know, the whole movie is about dream sharing.

Essentially: Multiplayer NINA.

What I really care about here, though, is the deepest level of dreaming: Limbo. It's sheer unmolded subconscious, and it allows you to manifest worlds and realities without limit.

Limbo is interesting to me because it spawns the Mal incident. Mal was Cobb's wife, and their foray into Limbo is what informs us about Limbo and its loss-of-reality dangers.

There are hints of Limbo everywhere in NINA.

(Never forgetting, of course, that Brenner was lying to El about Nina. Nina and her lover did reunite. Her lover had been alive the whole time.)

However, the only way to leave Limbo is by suicide.

All this to say: With each day I become more convinced that TFS isn't actually real, but might be an idealized version of what was once Henry's reality.

So no, I'm not necessarily saying that the exact suicide Hopper references was Henry, or anything like that. I'm saying TFS may be a manifestation of the way Henry wishes things had been, or an idealized version of his real memories of 1959...much like how the early stages of NINA are idealized versions of HNL (i.e. Henry looks healthy, everyone seems happy, Brenner's generally kind...and then it slowly deteriorates into Henry looking sickly-green and everyone being in danger all the time at Brenner's hands).

That would make TFS not strictly necessary for the plot of ST5, but a HUGE commentary on who Henry is or was as a person nonetheless...which would set us all up nicely for whatever twists they might have for us in ST5.

[teruthecreator]

be so glad none of u people ever saw my ~30 page script of a fake hallmark christmas movie where instead of the story being focused on the work-obsessed guy going to a holiday-obsessed smalltown to meet the love of his life, it is INSTEAD focused on the typical VILLAINS of that plot (that being the coworker trying to get ahead and the boss that doesn’t care about christmas) getting together. oh and those villains are roshuuto and toichiro btw

[kaydeefalls]

Random meet cute I guess? Thanks!

so this particular WIP started because i was super burned out after finishing Carthaginians and my other existing wips had already been glaring impatiently at me all year, so i wanted to just give myself a blank doc to write something light and silly. i wrote like half a page and then dropped it for a bit. in the past week-ish, i've picked it back up again to rework as a seasonal prompt fill, and it's coming along nicely so far. never bothered updating the doc title, so that's how it shall remain. goal is to have this one done by the end of the month, hopefully sooner.

basically this is a nicky/joe hallmark christmas movie au except that they're both the expendable side characters in OTHER people's hallmark christmas movies. because that's just how my brain works.

Quỳnh is clever and ruthless and glamorous, with an unexpectedly sweet strain of romanticism beneath her sharp-edged exterior, and Nicky absolutely adores her. They bond via philosophical debates at two in the morning, trashy romcoms, and increasingly competitive games of darts at their local pub. She likes to host lavish dinner parties every few months, and he lets her sweet-talk him into doing most of the cooking (not to mention the cleanup afterward). In exchange, she handles the bulk of the housework when he's on deadline, and plays wingwoman very effectively whenever she manages to drag him out clubbing.  So about sixteen months into their cohabitation-slash-friendship, he agrees without hesitation when she asks him to be her fake boyfriend for Christmas. "I'm the only single woman of marriageable age in my entire extended family," she explains, in dire tones. "My aunties are definitely ganging up on me, and they refuse to hear the whole lesbian thing. Please, please help me shut them up, just for this one holiday. You'll get a free trip to some posh hunting lodge near Edinburgh out of it." Nicky lifts an eyebrow. "I thought most of your family were here in London?" "They are, but Auntie Linh's rich white husband has, like, an estate up there or something," Quỳnh sighs. "I'll bet she's procured a veritable army of rugged Scotsmen to matchmake with me. I'll give you first crack at any of the gay ones, if that helps." "Well," Nicky says, laughing, "how could I possibly say no to that?"

deceptive snippet is deceptive. that's not the plot of the fic itself at all. but here we are.

[weswhoreland]

mistletoe

wes borland x gn!reader 661 words t+ read on ao3

“Another Hallmark movie?”

The two of you are sitting on the couch, enjoying a Christmas movie marathon. It’s been a long week for both of you, full of chaos and obligations. It’s nice to finally unwind. What’s even nicer, though, is the fake look of annoyance on Wes’s face.

You can’t help but smirk.

“You know you like them,” you tease. “Come on. Guess the plot of this one.”

Wes looks at the screen, listening to the cheery music that plays over the scenery of snowfall and Christmas trees. It’s a lot like the last one the two of you watched.

“Let me think,” he starts. “Girl comes back to her hometown for Christmas. Falls in love with some guy."

You grin. "Okay," you agree. "Go on, keep going."

Wes hums to himself, considering the plots of all the movies the two of you had watched that night.

"There’s some cheesy scene with them kissing under the mistletoe,” he continues. "Tooth rottingly sweet. Am I forgetting anything?"

“You forgot the part about how she’s become a city girl,” you point out. “And he’s a country boy.”

Wes laughs. “God, how could I forget about that?”

“And,” you continue, “they’re old flames. Highschool sweethearts.

“Oh, naturally.”

Wes stretches a little, his sweater riding up just enough that your eyes linger a little longer than necessary. You can’t help yourself. But the night is still young, and there’s plenty of time to act on those impulses.

“I’m gonna check on the cookies,” Wes says then, getting up from his place on the couch. The two of you had had the idea of making the little Christmas Tree sugar cookies tonight. And with the smell that’s filling the house right now? It’s hitting you how good of an idea that was.

“Okay,” you reply, grinning. “But, hey, if they’re done, don’t steal any. I’ll know.”

Wes rolls his eyes playfully before disappearing into the kitchen. You watch as your cat steals his spot on the couch, immediately plopping down. You reach out and scratch down her back. She arches into it, purring.

Earlier, you and Wes had a discussion about what you wanted for Christmas. And… well, honestly? This is all you wanted. To spend time with Wes, as cheesy as that sounds. Nothing fancy, just the two of you (and the cat), uninterrupted. You couldn’t ask for anything more.

The cookies are definitely an added bonus, though.

“Hey, (y/n)?” You hear Wes call from the kitchen, bringing you back to reality. “Can you help me with something?”

Help him with something? You’re definitely not opposed, but what could he need help with? “Yeah,” you reply. “Hang on. I’ll be there in a second.”

You get up from the couch and make your way into the kitchen. At first, you’re not really sure what you expected. You’re immediately greeted by the sight of Wes standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a shit-eating grin on his face. You nearly ask what’s going on before something catches your eye.

When you look up, you see it.

Mistletoe.

“Oh my god,” you laugh. Is he serious? “You’re so cheesy.”

Wes laughs at that. Clearly, this is the reaction he expected. “What? You don’t like it?”

… Well.

“I didn’t say that."

And at that, Wes kisses you. Maybe he intended it to be a little peck, maybe not. Either way, the kiss lingers. You kiss him back, suddenly overwhelmed by how cute this is. Wes is always surprising you. And as cheesy as he can be sometimes, you love it.

When the two of you finally break apart, Wes looks down at you and grins. Clearly, he's proud of himself. And... well. He should be.

"You're so cheesy," you say again, laughing. "Like a damn Hallmark movie."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," you reply. And at that, you wrap your arms around his waist and kiss him again.

This is turning out to be the best Christmas ever.

[fakehallmarkmovieplots]

Tiffany’s Epiphany

this is a movie about Orthodox/Coptic Christmas and Epiphany. after an underwhelming family Christmas, Tiffany has an epiphany on Epiphany Sunday at her Catholic Church: she doesn’t love her life! She breaks up with her long-time boyfriend and immediately leaves the church, unknowingly embarking on a quest for true love. Then she sees the most beautiful woman ever outside her church and follows her (she happens to be on her way to service at HER church, but she’s Coptic so it’s a Christmas service). the woman confronts Tiffany about being followed but then is like, “you need some people” and invites her to spend Christmas with her. Tiffany gets a second chance at Christmas! they end up hanging out everyday until Tiffany comes along to Coptic church again on Coptic Epiphany, and there she has another epiphany: she’s in love with this woman. guess what, they both love each other and they live happily ever after the end

[zeravmain]

Tell us about your opinions about talking animal movies.

I will try to be brief (1/435)

Before we get into The Opinions, I need to first establish that when I talk about talking animal movies, I specifically mean live-action talking animal movies in all their unrepentant glory, so no fully animated stuff like Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), or a semi-animated realism one like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and also stuff like The Muppet's movies. We are also including talking animals who are narrated and don't have CGI applied to their faces to make the illusion of talking, so films like Milo and Otis (1986) do qualify, but something like Zootopia (2016) does not. This is exclusively live-action, though of course there can be special effects or CGI included in these selections, even fake animals so long as they work as animals within the story. The main basis needs to be that it is a live-action movie where there are realistic (per the movies) animals talking.

More than anything, these movies tend to be kids movies (of course) but that in itself does not mean that these movies are always intentionally silly. No doubt that the vast majority of them are comedy, mind you, but there's a difference between genuine well-made comedy (for kids) and something like that scene in 50 First Dates (2004) where we have the walrus throw up on the worker (side note I am not including this movie despite how the animals do seemingly communicate with Adam Sandler, already a talking animal himself in some respects).

Now onto my opinion: There are precisely 4 golden questions you need to consider for whether any given talking animal movie is good (subjective), and more than anything is that these are not hallmarks but rather categories these movies fall under and should embrace to be enjoyable.

1. How much suspense of disbelief is the movie demanding from you?

Ah, the classic concept for media engagement that seems to be lost to time. Generally, whenever you will be approaching a new movie or show or etc, there is always the question of realism and the idea of suspension of disbelief, how much you are willing to shutter away that little voice in your head that makes you chronically unfuckable that goes "um ACTUALLY that scene is totally unrealistic-" and other noteworthy lines. For a movie with talking animals, of course you will be expected to give it some ground, but as well you need to keep in mind that you don't just throw it all out.

More than anything, a bad movie made with passion is better than a good movie made with none. How much does the talking animal movie like the fact that it is a talking animal movie? Do they just cash it in for the paycheck like the latter half films of the Air-Bud Extended Universe, or do they double down and go whole hog on the concepts like with G-Force (2009)? Are the movies simple comedies like Marmaduke (2010) that know they are there just to give you a laugh, or do they try their damnedest to make up a moral like Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (2011)?

Once more, a bad movie does not mean a bad movie when talking about this complex topic, so while I do think these questions I posit are subjective, they are recommendations to keep in mind for your viewing experience.

2. Are the talking animals actually animals or just people who happen to also be animals?

Certain scholars might point you to Alvin and The Chipmunks, or Garfield (2004) and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (2006) for reference on talking animal movies which deal with this subject matter, perhaps the most famous example being Stuart Little (1999), the mouse who actually goes to school and, within the plot of the movie, gets captured by a hate group (of cats) who plan to kill and eat him.

This question can apply to a fair bit of movies, I think the Dr. Dolittle movies could fall under here as those movies actually hinge on how the titular "Dr. Dolittle" specifically has the power to talk with animals, where in turn this power makes said animals genuine characters and it's not treated as a minor quirk. Another good example could actually be Detective Pikachu (2019), where Ryan Renolds does his best to Renolds it up. Paddington (2014) also qualifies for this question under the same rules as Stuart Little, where Paddington is just a person but also a bear.

A more modern variant could be Show Dogs (2018), where the dogs are not understood by the humans, but do in fact hold places in human society. I also want to give a special shout-out to Kangaroo Jack (2003) here, which does not technically qualify for this list given that Jack never really talks (only makes implicit noises that kangaroos can't actually make), but I believe that in spirit it qualifies here. Same with Furry Vengance (2011), who I believe in spirit qualifies due to the animals having human levels of intelligence and primarily having all the markers of talking animal movies, except for that the animals themselves don't directly talk.

3. Are the talking animals actually talking?

Already this one may seem ridiculous given the subject matter, but I do think that it's important to keep in mind. Whenever there is a talking animal movie, there is always the question of "are these animals just actually speaking english in the real world or is this just the omniscient movie viewer translation for them?' George of the Jungle (1997) actually had a very clever opening sequence where they provided translation for realism, except that the translation was [ANIMAL NOISES] while said animals spoke in clear english.

This does not mean that the movie NEEDS to be realistic, mind you. Technically the Narnia movies count as talking animal movies due to Aslan being, well, a giant talking lion, but those are intentionally a fantasy setting which makes it fit, same with a film like The Golden Compass (2007). To a lesser extent, the live action Scooby-Doo movies also fit as talking animal movies due to the presence of Scooby and [REDACTED] Doo, where Scooby and robotic Rowin Atkinson are just actual talking animals as an accepted fact of life within those universes despite being clear anomalies. Once again, Alvin and the Chipmunks live action movie series fit here. Perhaps a more elegant example could be found in Zookeeper (2011), where the animals do talk, and do directly communicate with Kevin James.

Of course there can be duds, such as Ace & The Christmas Miracle (2021), where it falls into the territory of also being a Christmas Hallmark movie with a recycled plot of saving the horse ranch. Conversely, we have a 'So bad it's good' movie like The Karate Dog (2004), which suffers from inglorious CGI, the dog actually speaking to humans, and all the depth you can expect from a dog performing martial arts in what is actually a buddy cop detective film.

4. How much do they take advantage of the animals talking?

Ah, now this one is the classic kaiju movie dilemma: Is the movie actually about the talking animals, or are they simply a backdrop b-plot for the "main character" humans of the movie who are like. usually planning a wedding or something. They always make these romantic. You may remember the classics such as Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) or the Transformers movies (Michael Bay version) where they shoehorned in a plot concerning the humans in order to make people care about the movies or provide some narration, irrespective of how these franchises do better without them.

You can look to films like G-Force (2009), which manage to elegantly intermix these plots by having the human and animal characters goals line up, mainly in that they want to prevent a genocide, or how movies like Milo and Otis (1986) are exclusively about the animals in their adventure. From Babe (1995) to Charlotte's Web (2006) to UNDERDOG (2007), there's a wide range as to how well they incorporate these aspects into their movies, whether it actually be about the animals or the animals serve as a backdrop to the humans.

There are a wide range of archetypes and variances to be found in live action talking animal movies, a rather underdeveloped field all things considered, but I do hope that people keep their minds and hearts open to discussion about this and find the movie that's right for them.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Character arcs in China, Korea and Japan v. the US/UK/AU and religion.

I have somewhat of a confession to make. That is that every year since I was little, I've always watched alone, a Christmas Rom Com. Was it high class? No. It was likely Lifetime, Hallmark or TNT. And the thing about that is the majority did not have Asian people in them. They were antithetical to everything I am except for the "Lead must be creative."

I made an expected plot event list around here, too. Here, in case you can't find it.

You might think this is not related, but I'm getting there...

The point is that out of all of the genres of movies I've watched from various dramas and movies, this correlates the strongest to the type of character "Development" (if you can call it that) I am talking about.

US Christmas Movies

Character has X, Y and Z problems in US Christmas movie. And in fact, as the plot goes along, those problems what? Multiply. This is a conflict plot.

So for example, you have Kevin from Home Alone. Kevin hates his family. His mother doesn't pay attention to him, Santa doesn't really seem to care. He has a scary neighbor he doesn't like. AND there are burglars to take care of.

By the end of the movie, there is a transformation arc after using Rube Goldberg machines, thus all of these things are fixed (until Home Alone 2).

In the Rom com, this is usually something like workaholic is paid an exorbitant amount of money AND hasn't found a SO, usually a man, since this is written for cishet women, and occasionally gay men these days (not lesbians?). Or the person is ignoring their own needs, whatever, there are a few plots. Which if you've been following along with my story structure series--the multiple plotline direction and threads is likely from Shakespeare's time, though I read the paper on it, the evidence–on the origin from whom is a bit murky on that count, which often happens in cultural phenomena, especially that far back in time.

However, the multiplication of problems and conflicts is more of recent thing. (Which to be clear in present time ends with a lot of reviewers on Youtube calling it "Fake" and "Unnecessary" etc. Millennials and Gen Z in particular hate it and call the multiplication of this terrible, particularly among women reviewers over men.)

Anyway, the point is that in particularly Christmas movies, which often double down on the religious aspects, huge problem, transformation, then every last problem about the character is fixed. Or for Christians (since Freytag said he based his on Christianity rather blatantly): It follows the Bible in simplified terms.

The connection to Christianity

You have Genesis, then all the stuff in the middle you kinda ignore and then all things go wrong, and then, OMG, there is salvation. Or the simplified version of crucifixion because you fell asleep in church, Jesus exists. Jesus preaches and gets people to hate Him. He dies. He gets ressurrected.

This is transformation. Through this Jesus what? Absolves all of your sins. You, not just Jesus are also transformed.

The majority of the authors that argued for this type of story structure with the diagrams were also Christians. The Jews I found didn't have the diagram.

Back to the Christmas Rom Com

Usually the cast also sings. And there is a part that's not in other Three-act-ish dramas: The Preaching. The incessant preaching.

The types of preaching come in these forms:

Woman (usually, though sometimes gay man who is femme) is told by her friends she is in love with target the audience is supposed to like–like it or not this is supposed to be the OTP, no matter the chemistry on screen.

Woman gets preached to about dead relative, previous Christmas, or some event from the past

You have the unbeliever of Christmas (which may be Christmas Carol+Grinch) and the true believer. Usually in the leads.

The male lead, usually is scarred by a previous Christmas.

All of these get transformed by the end, like a wafer to the body of Christ.

All sins are forgiven, and the preaching in these movies works every time. And usually the rich socialite ends up what? More humble and thus moves to a humble town (though this most of the time is to make filming cheaper, tbh.).

These Middle class main lead often to another middle class main lead or richer person.

All problems solved, world peace, every character flaw is fixed and forgiven.

Cue around here, Brecht throwing up at the blatant misuse of his input into story structure and probably several other theorists scratching their heads at "What is this Holiday Christmas movie?"

And the thing about Christmas movies, if you like them or hate them, they hit the time stamps for what they need to do perfectly. There is no flaw in the timing. The dialogue is flat and not that sparkly, and the introspection is externalized, like a cross, and there you go. This is how the character changes. All is fixed and well.

Shintoism, Buddhism, Mugyo, and general East Asian Philosophy

Particularly said of Japan, Japan is accused of being FLAT character arcs. People go into it and find out character has XYZ problems. Those problems might add, but not multiply, and then at the end, only X or Z problem is solved. It's not a story of transformation at all.

Character is poor and might end poor. That's not solved by magical benefactor.

Character starts off with an oppressive mother, their boss hates them, they don't have romance, and they feel unloved. The character arc fixes the "They don't feel loved." The other stuff is ignored and only there to serve the self-discovery of the character on their journey towards inner peace despite the chaos around them.

This is because the main point is not transformation, but self-realization of oneself.

This ties very, very heavily to the various religions in the region, which focus more on inward growth towards outward control, than outward circumstance towards outward control. Change is thought to be slow, hard to achieve and often either cyclical, or circular until one digs into ones self and really finds a way to say, escape the cycle so they can get out of it to reach say, Nirvana, The Next Life, harmony with all living beings, etc.

In another words, to shape the outer world, one has to work on oneself first, because there is no great Jewish not-white not long-haired savior to help you externally, it comes from your own work within, which is often said to be painful slow and comes with a lot of attachments you might not need. And if you stay attached to those worldly things, it will create evil. (this is true of Shintoism, Mugyo, and Buddhism.) There is no one to save but yourself. And the healthy attachments are often good deeds from within yourself towards others.

Examples

Spirited Away, Chihiro forgets her entire adventure. She gains a new head elastic, but as the beginning said, she won't really forget her experience. What's the singular thing that Sen/Chihiro gained?

The confidence to face new challenges.

You've gone through the entire movie, and she has not had a huge transformation arc where everything was fixed. Her parents still aren't that great. She still has to move to a new town. And not all of her problems were solved. Haku is still a roaming spirit, No Face might have found a home and a place, but still has its flaw. Not everything was fixed. There was only one thing that totally transformed and changed for our main lead Chihiro.

And the thing is Miyazaki and his animators pulls this all of the time without fail and you still feel wrapped into his world and point of view.

This is true of Ashes of Love, (Chinese) as well. A-Z problems are not solved for the characters. One character flaw is changed for each character, which is a kind of spoiler here. While they do learn and grow, there are still problems looming in the distance that might come back at a later date. Also the ending feels a little bit bittersweet. Following the formula of qichengzhuanhe, it does not linger on the ending, but instead gives us a cyclical feel.

I think the one that drove people up the wall, personally, was Stranger Again. (Korean drama) People argued that it was a "Sad ending" but from the perspective of the characters it was a happy ending. The themes of the drama were met by the end of the drama showing that sometimes love isn't enough to keep a couple together. It really dug deep into what love is and isn't and the imperfections and blemishes of it. But people still struggled really deep with the idea that not everything is fixable. They wanted that transformation, but the drama never promised a transformation. It only promised, from the title and beginning to ending to make sure people understood why people sometimes need to divorce and not to be caught so strongly in hate or so strongly in love, but that middle of finding a way to move forward without another person. The change for the characters, wasn't through conflict--the conflict made their ability to solve things more tangled and worse. The solution came in the form of self-realization and contemplation, where they discovered the painful truth and then were able to let go. And that was the happiest ending for the characters, but those addicted to Christianity's total transformation, sacrifice as ideas of love hated it.

But I dislike the idea that someone needs to give up all of their happiness in order to make another person happy until they are angry and resentful at them. Because then, is that really love? And so if you sat there and thought through the morality and the things the drama was saying that was the happiest ending. But not the one that you wanted. However, it lingered and made you more honest about facing your relationships and the world because it forced you to question yourself and self-reflect–and that's the whole point of a lot of these stories that don't fix everything. The world is messy, and though you might get cooperation, the only thing you can control is yourself, so you need to respect others and their choices and the best way to do that is to know yourself before facing others rather than waiting for a savior to fix it for you.

BTW, I can do this with Taiwanese dramas too. It's rare for an East Asian drama to try to fix everything for the characters. If anything, the characters crawl towards finding their own solutions. Think through some of the dramas you've watched.

[watchinghallmark]

Okay! I'm so excited to have the big movie announcement out today!! I still maintain that 40 is too many even if like none of you agree. This is the first time I'm going through the list so I'll react as I go! Under the cut because it's a little long.

Checkin' It Twice - Love Kevin and have really enjoyed Kim. Sounds like a cute plot and he gets to be Canadian and play hockey so that's fun.

Where Are You, Christmas? - What a fun concept with having it in black and white! I'm into the cast for this one.

Under the Christmas Sky - Excited to see Jessica in a movie and Ryan, of course. Could be interesting. Love to see some disability representation.

Ms. Christmas Comes to Town - Interesting concept. People love their home shopping. I used to watch it all the time actually haha

Christmas by Design - Meh about this one.

Mystic Christmas - Not sure I understand the plot of this one but decent cast.

Joyeux Noel - So happy Jaicy is back and in France!

My Christmas Guide - This feels very Guiding Emily but I'm here for the representation. The actor is visually impaired so that's a plus!

Flipping for Christmas - They randomly include a clip of this movie in the Fall into Love promo. Anyway. Could be cute.

Never Been Chris'd - Obviously can't wait for this one!

The Santa Summit - A Hallmark movie about bar hopping! Love it.

Mystery on Mistletoe Lane - I like Victor. This sounds pretty cute with the kids.

Everything Christmas - Fun concept with roommates.

Christmas Island - Kind of a weird plot but should be fun with Andrew and Rachel.

A Heidelberg Holiday - Excited to see a Christmas movie in Germany!

A World Record Christmas - Love that we're getting some autism awareness this Christmas!

Navigating Christmas - Sounds fine.

A Merry Scottish Christmas - Should be a good one!

Holiday Hotline - This sounds really adorable.

A Season for Family - We need more movies about adoption, honestly.

Catch Me If You Claus - Ridiculous and I can't wait!

Letters to Santa - Could be cute.

Holiday Road - An 'inspired by true events' road trip. Okay.

Christmas in Notting Hill - Really looking forward to this one! It got the coveted Saturday after Thanksgiving spot which means Hallmark is also excited about it.

Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up - Did we need a sequel? I'm sure it'll be really fun.

Our Christmas Mural - Meh about this one too.

A Biltmore Christmas - Very excited about this one!

Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas - Can we be done with this series?

My Norwegian Holiday - You had me at 'troll figurine'.

A Not So Royal Christmas - This sounds really fun.

Christmas with a Kiss - Not much to go off of with this one.

To All a Good Night - I always love Kimberley.

Magic in Mistletoe - Damage control? Sounds fun.

Miracle in Bethlehem, PA - New baby!! Cute.

Friends & Family Christmas - FAKE DATING LESBIANS!!! It's a Christmas miracle!

Sealed with a List - Could be fun.

The Secret Gift of Christmas - Excited to see Meghan back but a little meh about this.

Heaven Down Here - Love a good stranding.

Round and Round - Super weird and I'm here for it (for for Bryan!!).

Christmas on Cherry Lane - This sounds good.

[lemonduckisnowawake]

So a while back @floorbacon0621 was talking about a hallmark movie where a woman body hijacked a rich lady but then realized all she wanted was family for Christmas.

Cue @emarynn going "eh, sounds boring" and me going "WELL CHALLENGE ACCEPTED."

The below is the result, transcribed (copy/pasted) from Discord because I realized I wanted it somewhere I could find before it got buried (it's already been buried actually) from all our chatter....which means I need a new tag for my personal writing stuff. BUT ANYWAY

Woman- gets isekaid into rich lady ML - rich guy whom rich lady is engaged to Rich lady - gets isekaid into woman

Plot: rich lady sees this sad and hectic ADHD family that is just NOT managing holidays well and is giving stress upon stress to each other and is like "all right, imma straighten you all out cause i'm a doctor" and actually starts helping the woman's family cope. Woman's family is like "woah, daughter, college in the city really has changed you. maybe this was a good idea after all." Meanwhile, woman is not at ALL happy to be in rich lady's body and is annoyed with rich guy who is doing his uttermost to scare off rich lady to break off the engagement, but woman isn't gonna do that cause this isn't her life - and rich guy is confused cause it was about to succeed, so what the heck? Woman wasn't really looking forward to the holidays cause her family is SO chaotic and it drives her nuts, and she guesses that this is a great way to escape but…they were expecting her and she still LOVES them, so she's gonna check. Unfortunately, before she can do anything, she's pulled into rich people christmas stuff with rich guy as her confused date. She finds all the bluster and pomp way too annoying and almost worse than her family's chaos but, again, not her life so she doesn't say anything. She likes the food thought, but everything is so fake that it just pricks at her even more until she can't take it and just….leaves the party at one point to hide.

Rich guy comes after her and they have an emotional moment or idk, which now confuses HER cause where was the rude guy? To which he admits he was trying to break up the engagement cause there's someone he loves who is not as wealthy and thought the best way was to act mean. To which the woman, in utter bafflement, is like, "Dude. It's a free country. Just…..break it off? You're over the age? Is there like any formal contract?" "Uh…no" "??????????? Then why don't you just break it off?" "They'll disown me. I don't have any job experience!" "??? Are you serious? You're in training to be the CEO? And you have a college degree? Just….use that to get a job???" "Oh…." "Uh huh." Anyway, cue woman accidentally making things better without even meaning to in her comedic shenanigans to just CALL HOME and see how everyone's doing, interspersed with cuts from rich girl who is having a blast organizing everything but thinks she should probably find a way to get back to her body cause being an heiress is great.

Anyway, blah blah blah, magic of Christmas, switcheroo goes back to normal after they meet and tell them all the happenstances ("you broke off my engagement?" "NO! He broke off his engagement with YOU! I didn't say I'd accept or anything! And you actually made my family functional?" "Yeah, being a psych and med student is great" "…..i hate rich people" ":DDD") End movie