#bernard!

We've just added added some new goodies to Mr Chimes’ Lost & Found! 

We've added a dozen new items, including a smattering of extra cats (in case you weren't wearing enough already), a half-dead Rubbery Man, an eel to wear around your neck, and visiting rights to the friendliest beetle in Chalcedony Square.

Here thar be spoilers!  No tinfoil hat theories this time around, just a few thoughts about what I liked (and didn’t like).

So...First and foremost, Bernard is here!!!  And yes, they did address why he looks older.  The reason for that...well, let me backtrack a bit and say that it was great to see the character again, and David Krumholtz hasn’t lost his touch!  The sass is there, and something I never thought would happen, we actually got to hear him use a minor swear word.  That’s right, folks...they let Bernard say ‘Damn it’!  Which, to be honest, is in no way out of character, they just never let him do it before. XD

Elves having their own version of Rumspringa was a cool idea (the name Kribble-Krabble being somewhat less cool IMO), but...You know, I kind of wish they had said that Bernard chose to live in the human world and left it at that.  I would have liked it if things were left a bit more open-ended there.  And I’m sorry, but it just came off as weird to me that they would pair him up with Vanessa Redgrave as sort of a throw-away not-a-joke-but-a something.  But I choose to view the series as a separate entity from the movies, so I’ll take it as it is and leave it at that.  It was just great to see Bernard again, and now on to the Yule-Verse!

Now, this part I really liked!  I prefer the idea we fanfic writers had going (and can you blame us for jumping to that conclusion?) that all the Santas were human, and they all ended up with the job in different ways.  For Scott to be the first human Santa, and for Carol to be the first Mrs. Claus EVER because the other Santas wanted them to have kids that would inherit the North Pole was...well, it’s fine in theory.  But since Elves are apparently now ethereal beings whose very existence is tied to Christmas spirit (as if Elf myths hadn’t existed in some form or another for literally thousands of years), those kids would have to leave the North Pole to find spouses of their own in the future to keep it going.  And there doesn’t seem to be a plan in place for that.  These guys are just making it up as they go along!  Isn’t that dangerous to do when your very existence hangs in the balance? XD

So, apparently Elves just came into existence as they are.  No ageing unless they chose to leave, no childhoods, no parents...apparently they can get married (Noel and Betty)...but for Elves it’s just kids playing house and calling each other by pet names.  I mean, it’s cute, but at the same time, if they’re eternal and frozen as they are, why include it at all?  Yeah...I didn’t care for that one and I’ll be disregarding it in my own stories, lol.

Krampus was cool!  I didn’t expect him to just be that time period’s version of Santa, and I definitely didn’t expect him to be a pretty okay dude!  Not evil in any way, just kinda scary-looking.  Taking toys instead of giving them, maybe as a reflection of the times?  Eh...well, I mean, having every Santa reflect the time period he’s in sort of makes sense.  It’s a more kid-friendly idea than the actual myth of him being a Christmas demon that kidnaps naughty children!

Cal...buddy...that girl will never speak to you again.  I mean, she will because storyline, but IRL that would have been it.  Sorry, kiddo, but your crush thinks you’re nutso. :(  But I really want to see them resolve that happily!  

Having Cal and Sandra inherit magical powers from having been born and raised at the North Pole?  LOVED IT!  I love the idea that high concentrations of magic would have an influence on humans if they’re around it long enough!  I thought getting Butter the horse to fly simply by believing in himself fit in with the whole concept of ‘believing is seeing’ and it’s important to believe and so on...but I also hope that the parents out there will have a conversation with their kids!  

No, little Timmy, you can’t fly just because you believe you can.  Stay off the roof, don’t jump from the top of staircases, your superhero cape is cool but it’s also the blanket Mom and Dad brought you home from the hospital in, and if you jump, it’s back to the hospital you go!

And NOOO, Betty!  It’s both heartbreaking and a mercy that Noel just missed her!  If he was that much of a wreck when Santa merely wished to retire, imagine if he had walked in on that!  I’m really counting on things being set right in the next episode, and the ‘disappeared’ Elves popping back into existence when Christmas spirit is restored (OMG!  You disappeared Crouton!  You bundtcakes!).