#I also think Statler and Waldorf would have fun with him

[muppetydyke]

Muppet Show Reboot (concept) S1E5: Lil Nas X

There’s a stripper pole in the middle of the dressing room, but Lil Nas X is nowhere to be seen! Scooter: Lil Nas X? 15 seconds to… Mr Nas X?Lil Nas X falls from the ceiling. He pops back up instantly, brushing himself off.

Lil Nas X: Well that’s not how it usually goes.

Scooter: Are you alright Mr Nas X?

Lil Nas X: Oh yeah, normally the fall is a lot longer. *there’s a thunder crash and evil laughter*

Okay so obviously Lil Nas X has to do old town road on the big silly horse puppet. Obviously. I’m also partial to That’s What I Want so I think that’s another song he’d do. I also really wanna hear Lil Nas X do a Broadway style song. I’m not sure what his range is so I’m not positive which one, but I think it’d be fun! Either that or an Elton John cover because they’re friends and I think it’s cute.

The backstage plot for the episode will involve Sam the Eagle trying to figure out what exactly Lil Nas X does.

Sam: Well, Kermit, I have done the research.

Kermit: *swallows* You have?

Sam: Yes. This Mister Nas X… worked as a ranch hand. Yes, a ranch hand. And he… makes shoes. A… interesting career.

Lil Nas X: No, Sam, you’ve got it wrong. I’m a rapper.

Sam: A wrapper? Oh in that case– *Sam leaves the room and comes back with a pile of boxes* can you help me with these? Christmas is coming up.

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

im curious, why do you like fiddlestan?

i like them in theory (all the pain potential, jeez!) but i feel like i'm missing something very obvious

Oh boy, you’re about to open pandoras box with this one -

I’ve liked fiddlestan for a LONG time, almost a decade now, (EXHIBIT A!!!), and honestly, I’ll admit that the ship is mostly based on speculation. So maybe you’re not missing something obvious, maybe I’m just delusional. I can’t speak for everyone, all I can do is explain why I like it: because it’s deeply rooted in several layers of irony. 

It’s ironic because fiddleford spent the better part of a YEAR dealing with fords nonsense. (And I KNOW, it’s not all bad, but really, especially if you read journal 3, that poor man was put through a LOT. He was definitely taken advantage of, at LEAST a little.) And after grappling with the acceptance that your longtime friend and unrequited love will never return your feelings, having lost the man to some crazy otherworldly nightmare machine, who shows up?? But his TWIN BROTHER who’s HUMBLE and KIND and TEN TIMES MORE DOWN TO EARTH?? It’s ironic, because they don’t know each other, yet they both have years of history with the same person who’s wronged them, and, they can make out about it!! THEY CAN FUCK TO SPITE HIM!! Stan stole his brothers name (and committed multiple crimes under said name), stole his house, and stole his research partner!! And… it's ironic because it’s Grunkle Stan and old man Mcgucket. That needs no elaboration.

(these are all my personal takes/headcanons! Like I said, this ship is based solely on interpretation, so I’m sure a lot of fiddlestanners like fiddauthor too. There’s like a billion different ways to interpret this ship.)

Also -

Their personalities are surprisingly similar when you stop and think about it!! You put those two in the same room, and they’d come up with some highly devilish scams together. They both have moral codes that are a little… ambiguous. And… I can’t believe I’m gonna pull this out as *canon fiddlestan documentation* but these are the kind of crumbs we’re working with here: MABELS DREAM IN THE SOCK OPERA CREDITS!!!! Although it’s not something that actually happened, and it’s just a reference to statler and waldorf, they are IN CHARACTER!! I think this is how they would actually act together if they were friends!! Just two old dudes, hanging out together watching tv, making fun of whatever they’re watching. If you’re in the room, you might get roasted too. Just a couple of old farts. It makes me so happy to think about. 

No fiddlestan rundown post would be complete without the fandoms EXTREME STRAW GRASP at Old Goldie and the Flame Retardant Raccoon. Soos calls mcgucket a “prospector guy,” amongst the other obvious comparisons you can make between fiddleford and goldie. Goldie is something stan used to like a long time ago, but he’s all old and fucked up now, best to throw him away and forget about it. BUT, as it turns out, there’s still good in that old thing after all. SO LETS GET MARRIED IN VEGAS!!!! It’s an extreme stretch, but… It’s a fiddlestan trope that they, at some point, have a crazy night of fun+romance in vegas together.  And I personally like to think that they return when they’re older+happy and tie the knot for reals. The raccoon speaks for itself - it’s one of the ways you can compare stan to a raccoon. And of course, mcgucket's raccoon wife. 

This is where it starts to get a little angsty, and if you “get all the pain potential” then you may have already given this some thought - but why does stan treat fiddleford the way he does if they used to love each other? The whole “UGH, this guy” comment in land before swine, looking all uncomfortable around him in fight fighters, choosing the spot furthest from where mcgucket lotions himself at the pool, and the “possum breath” comment in the last episode (and fiddleford actually has the mental clarity to look perturbed after he says it). Stan is hurt!!! He’s upset!! If they used to be a Thing after the portal incident, something must have happened between them for fiddlefords mental illness to get the better of him, and for him to choose to erase both stan and ford from his memories. I, personally, think that it was deep rooted internal homophobia (being raised in the south, that runs deep), and being scared for getting too close to stan. They were getting too comfortable, and that scared him. What about his family? And tate? His son can never meet stan. He can never let his wife know. And all the paranormal fuckery incidents leading up to this that already weakened his mental state, the portal incident, already having zapped his brain a few times, would have sent him over the edge. So I’m thinking they would have gotten into a fight of some kind, and fiddleford would have stormed off. Thus leaving stan having to live in a town with the person he USED to love, who doesn’t remember him at all!!! What!!!!! That sucks!!!! Only upside to fiddlefords memory erasure is that it makes it easier for stan to pretend nothing ever happened. But it’s still not easy. Also, if word ever got out that old man mcgucket used to be his boyfriend, he would never be able to live it down. So he compensates by being an ass towards him. Fuck. 

But then!! If fiddleford has the chance to heal!!! (say… maybe… when the twins are on the stan o war II) then stan would come back to gravity falls and see fiddleford looking like the person he knew thirty years ago!!!! WHAT!?!?! CAN’T RUN FROM YOUR PAST FOREVER, CAN YOU!?!?! And you KNOW fiddleford would remember what happened with stan. How long can stan keep himself in denial?? And now we’re opening up the can of worms: how the FUCK does this information reach ford?? That your brother used to canoodle with your research partner and might STILL BE?? That has so much potential too. 

Ok I wasn’t expecting to write those last two paragraphs but it’s A BIG PART OF WHY I LOVE FIDDLESTAN!!! It’s a crazy fucking rollercoaster ride!!! This thing has so many angles!!! And that’s just MY fiddlestan interpretation - I’ve seen a lot of different takes on the sort of story that would transpire between these two. But no matter what you’re cooking, It’s always a LOT. 

There’s probably so so much I didn’t touch on here. If anyone else wants to throw in their two cents as to why they like fiddlestan, please, add something!!!

[statleragainstposers]

Honestly, I feel like now should be the moment I have, like, some big revelation about myself. But I'm kinda just not? If you asked me two days ago, I would have told you this was punishment from God, and if you asked me a month ago, I would tell you that I wasn't thinking Rationally enough, but right now I'm just here and there's not really a greater meaning to it.

I think I need people to like me. That's why I try to put myself into these little boxes. That's why I turned Catholic even though I've never read the bible or why I use words I don't even understand. I hope that by making myself big enough or smart enough or devout enough, someone will notice I exist, someone will care that I exist. But I don't want to live to he seen or remembered, I think that stuff just happens to you if you live your life right. That's why I notice Waldorf so much. He just lives for the sake of himself, even if that means leaving me behind. And yeah, it hurts to see him ignore me, but I also sorta brought it on myself?

Anyway, I'm not sure what to do now. Kinda hard to figure out a plan when I don't even really understand what I'm feeling. Am I even Statler anymore? Whatever. I'm gonna call my parents again. Maybe dig a hole with the Gordon clone for fun. Just exist.

[wickedlysecret]

Something I’ve been lowkey obsessing over for the past few years has been The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), which is quite possibly my favorite Christmas movie ever. It’s fun, it’s funny, it has cute moments, Michael Caine is absolutely the best Scrooge to ever Scrooge… I can’t sing this movie’s praises enough. I was so excited when it was included on Disney+, so I could watch it pretty much whenever the desire struck.

The thing is, there’s another Christmas Carol adaptation that I loved to watch as a child that’s also on Disney+: Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983). It’s another retelling of the same story, and yet… it doesn’t really hit in the same way that the Muppet one does. And I can’t stop thinking about why that would be the case. What do the Muppets do in their adaptation that Mickey and his friends don’t do in theirs?

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m going to sit here and compare and contrast these adaptations, with pictures and quotes. This is gonna be one of those “In this essay I will” posts, except the essay actually follows under a cut. After all, I’m nothing if not a former English major with weird hyperfixations.

I broke down the places where the differences are strongest into four parts: The Spirits/Ghosts of Christmas Whatever; the inclusion of a comedic Narrator character; the simple fact that the Muppets are Actors in their own right; and the entire “Christmas Future” part of the story.

1. The Spirits. 

For the Muppets, new characters have been created for the roles. These characters were only ever used for these roles, and we never see them again in other Muppet productions, save for Jacob (and Robert) Marley, as played by Statler and Waldorf, whom I’ll talk about at another point.

These new characters make much of the dialogue work, as well, with much of their exchanges with Scrooge at least sounding, if not actually being exactly as written in the original Christmas Carol. The supernatural look of the little ghosty Spirit of Christmas Past helps to sell the whole picture when they say lines like, “A touch of my hand, and you shall fly.” The jolly, bumbly, ginger-haired-Santa lookalike Spirit of Christmas Present is personable and friendly, even able to make a mean and grumpy man like Scrooge joke and laugh with joy. And the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come is faceless, imposing, and silent. They communicate through pointing, or a guiding hand, and they chill both Scrooge and the audience without saying a single word, merely showing Scrooge the future that awaits him.

Disney, perhaps understandably, made use of some of their existing Intellectual Properties (IPs) instead of creating new characters to serve as the Spirits. Jiminy Cricket is our Ghost of Christmas Past; The Giant (from Mickey and the Beanstalk) makes a surprising return to the screen as the Ghost of Christmas Present; and finally, in a jarring reveal which I could argue was made only for the purpose of having yet another IP make an appearance, Pete fills the role of the Ghost of Christmas Future. These are characters with personalities that the audience already presumably knows, and while they are able to fill their roles to a degree, they also come with baggage, for lack of a better term. They struggle to keep a balance of their original personalities, while also donning the personalities of their Christmas Carol roles.

Jiminy attempts to give sage advice to Ebenezer Scrooge (McDuck), in the same manner as he had with Pinnochio, but a stern little cricket lecturing an old man duck just doesn’t feel right. And the giant is also bumbling, sure, but more than that, he’s just… stupider than the Muppet Spirit. Caine’s Scrooge even remarks “You’re a little absentminded, spirit,” to which the Muppet Spirit of Christmas Present replies, “No, I’m a large absentminded spirit!” The giant’s version of the Spirit is just your run-of-the-mill comedic relief idiot. As for Pete’s ghost, he’s silent and somewhat imposing for almost the entire Christmas Future segment, until he removes his hood and scares Scrooge into his empty grave with some mean remark. And the mean remark is truly what ruins Pete as the Spirit of Christmas Future; this Spirit isn’t mean, but rather delivering harsh truths. The purpose of the Spirit of Christmas Future is to really drive home to Scrooge that, if he doesn’t change his ways, this is the unfortunate future that awaits him. It’s the future itself that’s supposed to scare Scrooge, not the Spirit delivering the message.

In essence, by not only using existing IPs for the Spirits in the story, but miscasting the Spirits with IPs that don’t work for their roles, Mickey’s Christmas Carol confuses the whole message that A Christmas Carol is supposed to convey.

Finally, as I mentioned, I want to talk about our Marleys. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, Marley is the only spirit for whom they’ve used an existing character–or, rather, characters. They’ve cast the grumpy old men, Statler and Waldorf, as Jacob and Robert Marley. They have a silly song they sing to Scrooge, which still manages to terrorize the man, and to be fair, the spirits of Scrooge’s old business partners are warning him of something terrible coming for him: more ghosts. We’re still early in the story at this point, so the Muppets wouldn’t be taking their big guns out yet, so imparting a scary warning in the form of a light and fun musical number is… well, it’s very on brand.

Meanwhile in Mickey’s, we have Goofy as Jacob Marley. I’ll talk more about this casting choice later, but the short of it is: why? Goofy’s not a mean OR selfish guy at all, and I can’t understand this role placement for him. He’s very stern with Scrooge, and it’s hard to take him seriously at all, and to top it all off he falls down the stairs at the end of his scene, with his trademark “Yaaaaah-hoo-hoo-hoo-eeeeeeee” shout and all. It doesn’t fit the character they’re trying to have him portray.

2. The comedic benefits of a Narrator Character. 

In the beginning of The Muppet Christmas Carol, the audience is introduced to Gonzo and Rizzo on the streets of the British Muppet City.

“Welcome to the Muppet Christmas Carol! I am here to tell the story!” “And I am here for the food!” “My name is Charles Dickens.” “And my name is Rizzo the Rat! Hey, wait a second…”

Gonzo and Rizzo, from this point forward, are the audience’s guide throughout the story of A Christmas Carol, there to explain, buffer, and offer comedic relief. They break the fourth wall, talking about and to the audience, and referring to any children who might be watching.

“Whoa, that’s scary stuff. Hey, should we be worried about the kids in the audience?” “Nah, that’s alright, this is culture.”

Gonzo and Rizzo carry a lot, and I mean a lot of the comedic moments within The Muppet Christmas Carol, leaving the story’s characters to portray the story, without strange interruptions from within. Well, for the most part. There are moments where comedy comes from within the story.

“If you please, Mr. Scrooge? It’s gotten colder… and the bookkeeping staff would like to have an extra shovelful of coal for the fire.” “We can’t do the bookkeeping.” “Yeah, all of our pens have turned to ink-cicles!” “Our assets are frozen!” “How would the bookkeepers like to be suddenly… UNEMPLOYED?!” “HEAT WAVE! This is my island in the sun!”

There are also moments where Gonzo Dickens and Rizzo interact with characters in the story, breaking the fourth wall further for more comedy.

“It is the American way!” “Sam! [Unintelligible whispering]” “Ah. It is the British way!” “Good.”

And of course there are moments where the characters’ existing personalities do come forward through their acting, such as when Miss Piggy, as Emily Crachit, calls Kermit (Bob Crachit) “Crachie”, in a play on her nickname for Kermit, “Kermie”.

The thing to note about all of these moments of comedy, is that none of them interrupt the story for the sake of a joke, or a catchphrase. The story continues without a hitch.

It also means that, when Gonzo Dickens and Rizzo leave at the beginning of Scrooge’s time with the Ghost of Christmas Future, they take just about every chance at joyful comedy with them. The audience knows their absence means things are about to get serious.

Without a similar character to bear some of the comedic weight, it all rests on the shoulders of the characters in Mickey’s Christmas Carol’s story. There’s plenty of jokes and humor, of course, but most of it is slapstick-ish, and typical of a cartoon; for example, Scrooge asking about Crachit’s daily pay, recalling it to be two shillings, only for Crachit to interrupt that it’s two shillings and a ha'penny–a raise that originated three years ago, when Crachit started doing Scrooge’s laundry. The jump into Christmas Future doesn’t have a smooth transition, leaving the audience rather jarred at the sudden change in tone; in particular, when Pete’s embodiment of the Spirit suddenly starts speaking, where previously he’d been silent.

3. The Muppets Are Actors. 

In every Muppet production, one of the things that makes the entire experience work is that nobody in the canon recognizes the Muppets as anything other than the characters they’re portraying. Nobody looks at Kermit and goes, ‘Why is there a talking frog made of felt here?’ That’s exactly the way someone should act with the Muppets, and, according to an interview with Brian Henson, that was Michael Caine’s intention from the very beginning when he was asked to play Scrooge.

"When I met Michael Caine to talk about playing Scrooge, one of the first things he said was: “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.”

The fact that the illustrious actor understood the assignment from the beginning, without even being told, works wonders for this movie. Caine said in an interview with GQ that, before The Muppet Christmas Carol, he’d never done a movie that a child, like his then-seven-year-old daughter, could see; this was his motivation in choosing the role. He then went on to discuss how one is meant to act with the Muppets.

Interviewer: When you’re talking to Kermit, where do you look? Do you look him in the eye? Caine: Yes. You look him straight in the eye. It’s like talking to a real actor. And the guy is just down below, buried in the floor.

This is a man with a great respect for and understanding of the Muppets, their work, and of course their puppeteers. When asked who is more famous, himself or Kermit, Caine replies that of course Kermit is the more famous, as he should be.

Caine: Oh Kermit is much more famous, because he’s known by children as well as all adults. And I’m known by many, many, many adults, but he’s known by all adults. And then I’m known by few children, but he’s known by every child.

(As a side note, this is a delightful interview with Michael Caine, and he’s just as pleased with and delighted by The Muppet Christmas Carol as the rest of us.)

In contrast with Mickey’s Christmas Carol, the casting for the Mickey Mouse & Friends characters into their Christmas Carol roles feels like it was done without much consideration or thought, beyond the logic of ‘Mickey Should Be Bob Crachit, Donald Should Be Scrooge’s Nephew, Of Course Scrooge McDuck Should Be Ebenezer Scrooge’, and so on.

For example, the part of Jacob Marley is played by Goofy. Marley’s character, or rather his ghost, is one that exists as Scrooge’s warning, both of his night to come and what awaits him if he doesn’t change his ways. Marley was just about as bad as Scrooge in life, hence all his chains weighing his spirit down, formed from his wicked deeds against his fellow man. He even warns Scrooge that he also wears such a chain.

The problem here is that Goofy Goof doesn’t have a single mean bone in his tall, lanky body. He’s a dogman that would never covet money like a miser, would never be cruel to others because he doesn’t deem them worth his time. So, why was he cast as Marley? It’s a confusing decision.

Another example lies with Mickey Mouse as Bob Crachit. Logically, I can understand the casting choice; Mickey is to Disney as Kermit is to the Muppets. Both made the same decision to cast their Big Name Character as the second lead in A Christmas Carol. However, the two portrayals go in very different directions, particularly in the Christmas Future segment. I’ll dig into this particular example in more detail in a bit, but in essence, it feels more like the Disney characters were plugged into their roles for the story, without much consideration for how their personalities would work with that of the characters they’d be portraying. The Muppets were matched with characters to portray, but it feels like careful thought was put into how each character would act and work as their Christmas Carol role.

4. The Entire “Ghost of Christmas Future” Chapter. 

I’ve referred to this part of the story, and the ways in which the Muppets and Disney handled it, several times so far, and this is because I believe that this is where the biggest differences lie, and where the Muppet adaptation truly outshines Disney’s.

First, the Spirit themselves. The Muppets created an entirely new, imposing, shadowy-cloaked Muppet specifically for this role, rather than casting a known Muppet as the Spirit. This Muppet never speaks, and has no face, and only communicates in gestures. It looms over the third act of the story, showing Ebenezer Scrooge what awaits him in this future, without words, instead letting the scenes speak for themselves. The Spirit is silent, but Scrooge understands what it’s telling him, asking questions and paraphrasing the messages he receives as the Spirit guides him through the scenes. And although the Spirit’s appearance is terrifying, that’s not the part that ultimately chills Scrooge to the core; instead, the future that awaits Scrooge (and Tiny Tim), should he continue down his path of cruelty and greed, is what prompts Scrooge to tearfully beg for forgiveness and a chance to prove that he can make things right.

Then, in Mickey’s Christmas Carol, the basic bones of the tale are there: an imposing, silent, hooded figure shows Scrooge glimpses of his possible future. But before this third act is over, the Spirit reveals its face and speaks: it’s not just a Spirit, but Pete. Nasty, mean, cigar-smoking Peg-Leg Pete. And he dumps Scrooge into his own grave to be consumed by flames until he awakens from his dream. Certainly, Scrooge has been shaken by the visions of an awful future, but he’s also been sent to hell by a mean, angry cat. Ultimately, this takes away from the big message of the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come’s chapter: that we should change because we choose to, not because we’ve been scared into it.

Second, the sharing of Tiny Tim’s fate. In both the Muppet version and in Disney’s version, the audience and Scrooge have both been told that, if things don’t change, Tiny Tim’s going to die. Now that we’re being shown the future, Scrooge needs to go and check on the Crachit family, to see if this loss has come to pass.

In the Muppet Version, Scrooge approaches the home with relieved excitement, remembering the home of his employee as the warm and happy one he’d caught a glimpse of thanks to the Spirit of Christmas Present. However, Scrooge notices the silence of the house, and instantly knows something has changed. He peeks into the window and watches as Mrs. Crachit cries as she cooks Christmas dinner. Then, he learns that indeed, Tim has passed away. We watch the grieving family convene for dinner, and talk of loss; although they try to encourage each other, it’s clear that the loss of Tim has cut them so deep, they might never truly recover.

The fact that someone can watch this entire emotional scene performed by the Muppets and, somehow, not lose any suspension of disbelief, speaks of the incredible talent involved in the making of this scene; the puppeteers, the voice actors, the editors, the filmographers. 

In comparison, the scene we get in Disney’s version is short, and stiff. What we get is a panning view of a graveyard, and a closeup of Mickey Mouse crying while holding onto Tiny Tim’s crutch, before he sets it against the boy’s gravestone. The audience watches Mickey Mouse cry over his dead son before the movie continues.

It sounds sad when said aloud, but watching it happen doesn’t carry much emotion. It just feels awkward, almost forced. It feels like the people who decided that Mickey Mouse should be Bob Crachit finally had the consequences of their actions catch up to them, and they suddenly realized what they were going to have to put the company’s mascot through… and then they had no idea how to do it. The entire scene feels haphazard and strange; it’s upsetting to watch, but not in the way it should be. Instead of being sad about Tiny Tim, I’m just bummed they made me watch Mickey Mouse cry like that.

And here’s the thing: neither of these scenes have been performed by human actors. One has been played by puppets, the other has been animated. The fact that the Muppets, who, in order to show emotion have to move their head a certain way or have the felt of their faces scrunched, do a better job performing the scene than the one that is animated, in which people could make the characters make any face they wanted, speaks volumes.

Perhaps it’s because, while Kermit will always be Kermit, and Mickey will always be Mickey, it all draws back to the fact that the Muppets are actors. Kermit has played so many other roles in other Muppet movies. But Mickey Mouse? He’s almost always Mickey Mouse. Using him in a different role is difficult when he’s never been anything other than himself.

...

I’ve spent some time trying to think how to wrap up this ridiculous essay I chose to write for fun, because while this isn’t an assignment and doesn’t require a conclusion, it also feels wrong to just end it there. I suppose I can say again, that the Muppet Christmas Carol is my very favorite Christmas movie, and I love watching it over and over again. I love it so much that I’ve literally written an essay explaining why it’s good. And it’s not like I hate Mickey’s Christmas Carol; I grew up watching that movie just as much as the Muppet one. It’s just that… the Muppet version hits different, you feel me? The story moves in a different way, treats humor differently, and even treats the audience differently. I’m by no means an expert on film, and I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with my opinions about this movie. In the end, these are just two child-targeted adaptations of a classic Christmas tale, and I’m just an ADHD girl who got way too invested in a passing thought. The different feelings evoked in me by the two different movies about the same story fascinated me, and I decided I’d try to analyze them and share my thoughts. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[my-muppet-art1224]

Still leaning to draw arms...

Anyway, I would love to think this is Kermit and Robin's first time meeting with each other. Kermit is over the moon becoming a new uncle and Robin is just doing baby things. Also the fish bowl is just a travel bowl. Robin has a bigger tank at home with the works.

My head cannon for Robin

*his the runt of his siblings.

*counting robin there are 8 nieces and nephews for Kermit to love. 3 boys and 5 girls

* Robin is on the autistic spectrum, but they won't know about it, until his a little bit older.

* Robin and some of his siblings go with their uncle Kermit to his work sometimes, just to watch the acts and hang out with their bonus uncles/aunts.

* Robin loves hanging out with rowlf and teeth, because he loves to listen to music while he color's or "reading" a book

* the other Muppets will treat Robin and his siblings with the most love and welcoming arms you have ever seen! Some of them will have gifts or treats for the babies

* Robin and his siblings love fozzie jokes/puns. None of them understand why the two old men make fun of him for it.

* Statler and Waldorf would absolutely love the little rascals, like they would remind them of their own children or grandchildren

[birdeatspice]

My Muppets cast for Camp Here and There

I love the Muppets and CHnT, this list came to me in vision. I had to share with the world. I may not cast every character, but this leaves room for audience input.

!!MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR CAMP HERE AND THERE!!

Sydney O. Sargent - Fozzie Bear

This just feels like the natural choice. I can't explain it.

Jedidiah A. A. Martin - Kermit the Frog

The serious but loyal string bean of an individual. That describes both parties I would say. I also just think the rant from The Tree of Boys in Kermit's voice would be funny.

The Elephant Man - Human Cameo

The best and most humorous option for a human cameo would be him, but I can't think of a specific actor. Please take Owen Wilson as a placeholder. Suggestions welcome.

If not a human, I think recycling Constantine from Muppets: Most Wanted would be suitable.

Up and Adam - Miss Piggy

Miss Piggy would absolutely slay in the paisley suit. Just think of it.

Rowan Chow - Rowlf the Dog

Rowlf has more comedy-based roles usually but I think he could do well as Rowan. Maybe it's just because I love both of them and Rowan as a big fluffy dog is fun.

Juniper Sloan - Janice

I want to see Janice do a British accent. But also I feel like they have some similar types of vibes personality-wise. I had the most trouble casting here.

Matthew - Swedish Chef

This one felt kind of obvious.

Lucille - Statler and Waldorf, but they switch for each scene and no one mentions it

Or they keep doing commentary much to Kermidiah's distress.

"Sydney's still seeing The Elephant Man?"

"With Sydney's luck, it's more like The Elephant Man is seeing him!"

"AHAHAA!"

Yvonne and Joshua - Pepe and Rizzo

Their dynamic is similar and 'Pepe's Gamer Hour' sounds fun. Goth Pepe would also be fun. The hot dog story told by Rizzo would additionally be fun.

This is as far as I got. I hope this was as good at wasting your time as it was mine /lh

[valgreaves]

thank you all for looking at my horrible, maladjusted children. for every reblog, a random fact about one of them:

Oscar's mom didn't let him have pets as a kid, but he would sneak food to the crows that hang around the house because he read once on an animal fact card that crows remember faces and thought it was super cool. His sparrow skull pendant is repurposed from one of their gifts.

Rory spent so many hours learning how to do cool knife tricks as a teen it circled back around to being uncool.

Rory is a huge klutz idiot with the proportions of a Muppet whose dancing abilities can only be described as "straight-up hazardous". Please don't ask them how many injuries they took while trying to master their cool knife tricks.

Oscar has no idea how to act around a camera, to an almost comical degree. He physically cannot smile on command; the only reason the homecoming selfie turned out well was because he had already been smiling uncontrollably. Most pictures taken of him have him with the stiffest deer-in-the-headlights expression ever. If you put a blur filter over them and add eyeshine, they could be submitted as cryptid sightings.

Morgan is a big fan of professional wrestling. Elliot calls her “the Undertaker” as a joke sometimes because Morgan sounds like morgue, and because he likes to make fun of her being a wrestling fan in the same way she ribs him for liking NIN. To be clear, though, the Undertaker is not her favorite; she's much more invested in women's wrestling, thank you very much.

Morgan went to Hartford and is friends with Hannah, the MC from The Haunting of Braidwood Manor. I need her to have one other friend who has had her own encounters with the supernatural but just NEVER talked about them. Like, Morgan has MET Eleanor. She just thinks Eleanor is Hannah’s posh British girlfriend who went to boarding school and not, like, purgatory. On that note, she's also a fan of Kaitlyn's band. Everyone At Hartford Knows Each Other

Oscar and Noah are, at heart, a hater4hater relationship of Statler&Waldorf proportions. After Oscar gets brought back to life and they start dating, they develop a truly awful habit of hanging out in the corner of any fancy event that their friends dragged them to and spending the whole time quietly bitching with each other and snickering at their own jokes. Britney overhears them once and immediately turns to Lily with the saddest most pathetic wet cat eyes ever like OH SO THEY HAVE LICENSE TO BE CUNTS BUT I DON’T??? and Lily just pats her hand indulgently and tells her to put a dollar in the slur jar.

Once everything settles down, Ro has a field day catching Oscar up on all the memes and pop culture stuff that he missed during the four years he spent as a shadow monster. He’s a good sport about it, even if he still doesn’t really understand Tiktok. Rory, on the other hand, knows exactly what a Skibidi toilet is and would be happy to explain it to anyone who asks. Which, unfortunately, no one ever does.

Judith loves shitty romance novels. She says she only buys them for purposes of critique, but they're very transparently a guilty pleasure for her. She loves that trope where the romantic interest sees the protagonist injured and starts getting aggressively overprotective and the protagonist has to stand in front of them and hold their face and scream "NO JAKEY LOOK AT ME. LOOK AT ME. THIS ISN'T YOUR HEART" until Jakey stops foaming at the mouth. It's that private fantasy of being important enough to someone to tame the beast within them, you know? To wield that kind of power over another person. And then she coughs, blushes, and annotates that paragraph on her Kindle with the note "I hope Jakey dies". It's complicated.

In an AU where Jane never died and she got to have a wedding of her own, she'd ask Oscar to be her best man and Noah to walk her down the aisle. Both of them cry like babies about this.

You know that one psych study where experimenters told participants to wait and entertain themselves for a while in a room with an electroshock machine and found that most men would shock themselves at least once during a 15-minute period because the negative stimulation was preferable to having to sit still doing absolutely nothing? Rory is not a man, but they are that one freak who shocked themselves 190 times because they just got that bored.

Don't ask me what happens to Oscar in the timeline where he lets Noah take Jane's place unless you want a 30 minute presentation on all the new and exciting disorders he will develop if left alone with his unfulfilled savior complex. And also the Cocomelon shit he's doing to Connor's heart, not even on purpose. On the bright side, however, he does get to watch Into the Spider-verse in theatres.

happy almost-september. in honor of fall please look at my it lives mcs

[knowlesian]

gdi, apparently i still have more to say about muppets. i got that good brainrot, team.

i already covered how izzy spends the series in a skinner box from hell dedicated to finding out what happens when you take a character from black sails and drop them into muppet treasure island without warning, so i’ll just link it here and move along to our second pillar in this cursed metaphor i refuse to stop torturing: jim.

i have a longer and more emotional post in the offing about jim and why they’re our tim curry here (aka, a human so capable of becoming one with the rules of the canon and attaining muppetdom you go “hell yeah. what a muppet that is. i am seeing a muppet here, everybody, def not a human actor chewing the scenery to absolute shreds”) but the long and short of it for now is that the day jim met olu, they were offered a gateway into muppetdom. and because jim is lowkey the best character on a show where everybody on-screen at any given second is my favorite character in the entirety of all media, ever, they jumped at the chance.

i realized this morning there’s a third pillar holding this framework up, and it’s our boy ed. ed, who is izzy’s shadow twin: a muppet born into a gritty pirate drama. the narrative uses everybody who has ever met him to tell us over and over that blackbeard is singular. he’s known for being absolutely insane within his own context, pulling off plans that shouldn’t work and saying things like “if you get stabbed on the correct side, nothing bad will ever happen. livers, how do they even fucking work????” and apparently being right because he’s just fine the next day. 

that’s some muppet shit if i have ever heard it. 

which brings me to the part that’s actually pretty heart-warming. ofmd operating on muppet movie logic answers why sometimes stabbings require tender gazes and brow mopping and then sometimes you can go on a nature walk the next day and why getting in a dinghy and just starting to row can get you anywhere safely in approximately five seconds flat and there’s no risk of dying of sun exposure or thirst and starvation, sure, and it ten zillion percent enhances the absurd comedy, but i think there’s something deeper and more poignant at play here.

to be a muppet is to embrace the shit that makes you weird and different. it’s to be loud and joyful and part of a circus of the same glorious clowns, getting along together and appreciating those quirks instead of condemning them. what’s cringe? what’s shame? a muppet doesn’t fucking know, they’re too busy loving what they love unabashedly and authentically and finding a community of like-minded weirdos who do the same. (and since i can hear the 'well, actually's now: statler and waldorf always poking fun is part of it too! they are In On The Joke. doing the dozens is a valid form of love as long as everybody feels safe and supported and is okay with it, it’s only when teasing becomes a passive aggressive way of releasing issues you refuse to address openly that it Gets Weird.) 

honestly, much like piracy functions as a textual haven for queer characters as well as a metatextual metaphor about how simply existing as a member of the lgbtqia+ community is seen as a transgressive act, the muppet metaphor works as a commentary on finding your joy when you are a part of the aforementioned alphabet soup.

(this is also why i honestly have some hope for izzy; if any show was going to give that wholeass wreck of a lone human amidst a newfound sea of felt a road to muppetdom and thus happiness, it would be this silly and tender love letter to those of us who really, really needed some joy right now.)

anyway, in conclusion: 

ID: very dumb meme my very kind friend nicole made that reads “it’s about the muppets.” End ID

[cowboywithfangs]

Muppet Goncharov Fancast

I know they only really do Muppet remakes with public domain stories but with all the copyright disputes I'm certain Disney could squeeze it.

I think you guessed this one but it must be said:

Kermit as Goncharov

This one's not just based on Kermit being "the main guy", I think his personality meshes really well with the inexpressive but nonetheless emotion-driven Goncharov. Softer spoken than the rest but not soft, he can and will lay down the hammer.

Token Human

Okay next let's decide who should be our token human character. Personally, my vote is for Katya.

Amanda Seyfried as Katya Goncharova

I know a lot of you were expecting Piggy here but hear me out. Casting Katya as a non-Muppet could really emphasize the theme of her alienation from both Russia and Italy and also I think it'd be funny if someone had to crouch down to Muppet-height to do the iconic cigarette scene.

I think Seyfried is great in this role because she's done fantastic work portraying complex and tragic female characters in the past but also can keep it fun for a Muppet-y version of Katya.

Now on to the rest of the Muppets...

Gonzo as Andrey Dodano

Andrey's quiet concern for Goncharov and fear of the inevitable end to their story screams Gonzo to me. The existentialism. He has a sadness in his eyes that [gunshots] Also Gonzo's not-quite-failure stunt performer career is very similar to Andrey's mob career. They both put themselves in a lot of danger for little appreciation in their respective worlds.

Piggy as Sofia

She can do the drama of a love triangle justice like no other! She can be flashy AND mysterious. Demure AND suave. Plus I think this would really bring to the front the performative femininity of Sofia's character and especially how she not only utilizes that performance but enjoys it as well.

Rowlf as Mario Ambrosini

Mario is loyal to his mob family to a fault and Rowlf, as a dog, could really channel that unconditional devotion. Also the scene where Dasha the cat passes in front of Mario, in addition to the symbolism already there, would have a whole new meaning if Mario was portrayed by a dog.

Sweetums as Valery Michailov

It feels wrong casting any Muppet as Valery cause he's just such a mean spirited guy. I'm largely going with Sweetums because I was scared of him as kid, but also because I think he's the perfect guy to pull off the last minute secretly has a heart but now its too late thing. The hug goodbye that you can't tell if it's genuine or manipulative. I think Sweetums could really embody that ambiguity.

Fozzie Bear as Ice Pick Joe

Ice Pick Joe would be a perfect comic relief role for Fozzie in a Muppet adaptation of Goncharov. Imagine for a second Fozzie doing the nickname monologue but as a stand-up comedy bit. Are you imaging it? "It was ice knowing ya!" (laughter ensues) etc.

And here's some more fun minor roles:

Lew Zealand as the gondolier

This is mostly about the fish stuff. Will it ruin the gondola moment to have a Muppet interrupt and point out the fish symbolism? Absolutely. Will it be funny when he gets slapped in the face by his own boomerang fish? Absolutely.

Scooter as the fruit vendor

Okay maybe this is mean to say but the actor in the original does look a lot like Scooter to me already. Also Scooter gives the vibes of being surprisingly cool with open homoeroticism. The antithesis of right in front of my salad if you would.

Statler and Waldorf as the assassin(s)

I know in the original Andrey just hires one assassin but he had such catty energy I think this adaptation there should be two and they could properly bitch amongst themselves as they kill (or fail to kill) their target. And who better for that? What is a theater booth if not a sniper's nest for hurling insults?

Rizzo the Rat as Dasha the Cat

Animal as the clock tower keeper

Because bells are loud and Animal is loud. But seriously imagine the hilarity of the "even i can't stop the clock" bit but instead of the melancholic portrayal of the original, the manic energy of Animal.

In conclusion: Disney hire me

That's all I've got for now, I would LOVE to hear if anyone has additional ideas for other cast members (I think there's a TON of potential for using Sam the Eagle as part of the critique of America-centric thinking in the original but I don't know as who!) or alternate castings!

[motownfiction]

hands you twenty bucks to ramble abt ur wip

can we even call this a WIP lmao ... it's sprawling and endless and just too much to talk about all at once, lmao. but i guess i can discuss what i have planned (AKA somewhat spoil) for what's going to happen in the yellow brick road miniseries.

besides more references to the wizard of oz. i need more of those.

basically the thing i am most excited about is sadie coming together with will. if it's not obvious already, sadie is about to get in the car and drive it all the way to new york city, where the o'connor family (really more the o'connaghan family, as i call them in my head) lives. also charlie lives there, but no one cares about him, including his own sister. anyway, they're going to run into each other in front of lucy and will's building. sadie rides up late at night, and will is coming home late from another long night at the ring (working off the guilt he feels for prioritizing strangers in need over his own wife and daughters). and they're going to have this whole conversation, on their own, about how under extreme duress, they've kind of become each other. sadie is reckless and risky (which she's always had the potential to be), and will lives for charity (even though we know he's always had a charitable dimension to him -- it's what makes him so good). it's another reminder of what they've always known: they are more alike than they are different. they are perhaps more alike than any other members of the pisces desk clump. it's why lucy fits so easily between them. they remind her of each other.

at the end of this conversation, will tells sadie that now that sam is gone, he has to take care of her now. sadie, of course, tells him that she has to do the same for him. it's a very "han leaving leia in chewbacca's care" moment, and yes, i do know how silly that sounds!

beyond just this series, though, i think my very favorite thing about the way this universe is shaping up is just how many narrative foils and parallels one can draw. my favorite of late are the parallels between sadie and will because they're the protagonists best friend and husband, respectively. but the parallels between lucy and sam are equally intriguing, mostly because they're not as obvious. they both rely on their senses of humor to get through the darker moments, but more importantly, they rely on each other's sense of humor to get by. that is, sam waits for lucy to crack a joke and vice versa. but in the yellow brick road series, sam is dead. and lucy is alone. a statler without a waldorf. there's no one to bounce off, since everyone else grieves so differently. the only person who would have understood a joke about missing sam was sam himself, and we're right back to where we started from. the biggest difference between them is that lucy wants for things to be business, and sam wants for things to be entertainment ... but they were always really good at bringing those two drives together. lucy is one of the most fun professors in her department. sam opens a successful business with his record store (still hate that he only gets to own his own store for a few years before dying, though steph getting the store in his will was a good move, actually). there are so many similarities between the way lucy and sam want (or wanted) to see the world, and they knew it. these characters are clever enough to see their foils and parallels. they take advantage of them, and they notice when they're gone.

the question, then, is where daniel fits into this conversation about parallels and foils. like sam, i think his strongest parallel is with lucy. daniel and lucy are just like each other in reverse. i give them both lines about how they're not going to cry in public, especially not in front of their friends/family. lucy was taught that crying gets you nowhere; daniel is afraid that crying makes people leave, as he's still convinced that his own emotions are part of what drove his father to abandon the family when daniel was a kid. they also both feel like outsiders in a way the other three pisces do not. sadie and sam are twins; will and sam are best friends. where does that leave lucy, who didn't move to the neighborhood until she was six and a half, and daniel, who's clearly always been the second best friend? this is also something daniel has in common with steph, but i think it's cool to acknowledge that he overlaps with lucy here, too. they are the some guy and some girl of the pisces desk clump, and it bothers them. but they also get into loops where they can act remarkably like one another. after sam's death, lucy has to hide and cry a lot, which is something daniel just ... does pretty regularly. but on daniel's side of the story, he has to become super organized to take care of the house and the kids, since sadie is either driving or sleeping. unlike will and sadie, they don't really talk about this parallel ... yet. i do hope to eventually strengthen the friendship between lucy and daniel, especially in stories set after sadie and daniel's wedding and sam's funeral.

i think that's it for foils and stuff lmfao thank you

[hargrove-mayfields]

Harringrove tag game! by @lovebillyhargrove

I was tagged by @mrsblackruby! tysm!! <3

1. Do they get together BEFORE MF possessing Billy or AFTER shit goes down? (Or maybe DURING😲)

Typically I say before, like at around Christmas time in ‘84. I think anybody in a small town puts aside character prejudices around the holidays and tries to make those connections with everyone, so I’ve always felt, especially since the fight was literally only a month before, that Steve would reach out to Billy the night of the Snowball and things would, well, snowball from there.

2. Who kisses who first?

Definitely Steve. I firmly stand by the hc that Billy’s never kissed a boy before Steve, and maybe Steve hasn’t either, but he’s the romantic, no way is he going to let Billy kiss him first.

3. Where do they have their first sex? (Location) (HJs and BJs count)

I don’t really have a solid answer for this? But definitely somewhere very spur of the moment, maybe somebody’s couch or the locker rooms?

4. Who says 💖 I LOVE YOU 💖 first?

Imma say Billy. Opposite of my last answer, I don’t feel like either of them would say they love each other on accident or like, in the moment. I think their first I love you’d would be very very controlled. I also think Billy has less experience with actually being in love, so when the time comes that he’s actually mustered up the courage to say it to Steve, I think he’s super nervous and practices the perfect scenario in his head a dozen times. It’s definitely not blurted out.

5. I believe this fandom is way past having hard feelings about it, so

BottomSteve! or BottomBilly?

I don’t have a strong opinion either way, but typically, I prefer bottom!Steve. No particular reason, that’s just the way I tend to read things!

6. Do they give gifts to each other?

Absolutely! Billy doesn’t have the disposable income to run out and buy Steve new things every time he wants to give him something, so I think he does a really cheesy like, giving him a kiss as a present and making a big deal out of it.

Steve is sort of the same way, in that he doesn’t like to give Billy material things, because he doesn’t want him to think he’s being pretentious or trying to hold his wealth over Billy’s head like he’s his mom or something, so he only gives Billy personal things. Old pilled t-shirts to wear to bed and a blanket to keep on the couch in his room that smells like him. Things like that.

They also try to make eachother things as presents, like food or little knick knacks in art class, but they always fail miserably and think it’s really funny when all they have to show is a smoking mess.

7. Where do they end up living? California, Chicago, Hawkins... Idk .. Alaska??)))) Any other location?

I honestly think they stay in Hawkins. I don’t think after everything Billy would be able to leave Max behind, and I also think that Steve would like having a connection to where he grew up, even if bad things happened there. If they did leave though, I see them going down south, maybe tourist trap Tennessee?

8. What are their future jobs?

In my mind that very much depends on if we’re following canon and this is post Starcourt or like, if it’s a whole new AU. Because after that I don’t think Billy would actually ever be physically well enough to work again. I know it’s a pretty unpopular opinion, bc the general hc is that he bounces back within a year or so with some scars (which is cool! I’m not knocking that I’m just sayin) but I think he'd be permanently disabled, on oxygen support 24/7, and just with all sorts of health complications from, you know, literally having a gaping hole in his chest, that would make it impossible for him to work. In that sort of scenario I usually think of Steve as a being teacher or an artist, something that he doesn’t have very long work hours or can do from home so he can be there to take care of Billy.

If we’re going with like, a no upside down or a Billy is never hurt au, I think he stays in Hawkins and just works in some sort of a mom and pop until he’s the new manager, like at an antique store maybe?

(p.s. stay tuned for an upcoming fic about Billy working in a fix-it shop!!)

As for Steve, I feel like he wouldn’t ever be able to settle on one career when he didn’t have limitations. I don’t really know what he’d eventually decide is his calling, maybe design of some sort? Jewelry making?

This is a hard question, I don’t really see them as being tied down to one career indefinitely, but I do know I don’t see either of them ever working desk jobs.

9. Who's a better cook?

Neither of them. Billy wasn’t allowed in the kitchen growing up because Neil said it’s a woman's place, and Steve is just god awful at following directions, like, can’t tell the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon or preheat the oven awful. They just eat takeout and like, cold sandwiches literally all the time until someone (Joyce) notices and teaches them how to cook on the weekends.

10. Steve Hargrove or Billy Harrington?

Billy Harrington. I don’t see him wanting to be a Hargrove anymore. He has no positive ties to the name with his mom leaving and his dad being his dad, so I think he’d want to take Steve’s last name. Also this is kinda weird but I am VERY particular about my middle name hcs (I think it’s an ocd thing? idk) and I have an alliterative name for Steve that wouldn’t work if he was a Hargrove instead of a Harrington, so that’s also part of the reason.

11. What's Max's reaction when she hears they're together?

I think probably just like, confusion. Not over Billy being with a boy, but over that boy being Steve. Like, she doesn’t know Steve well, but she knows he’s the responsible big brother to Dustin, and that’s the exact opposite of what her brother is like, so it catches her off guard. She’s definitely a little gossip though, wanting all the not-gross details about Steve from her brother. She’s basically just a little sister about it, I guess.

12. Describe in ONE SENTENCE Hopper's reaction when he hears the names Hargrove and Harrington mentioned together?

Not again.

13. Does Robin like Billy OR does Robin hate Billy?

I think she likes him. I have a little hc that she and him were together in an underground pre-gsa kinda thing in high school. She pretends she can’t stand him, but the two of them are quick best friends. (this might just be me but I think the two of them together would give statler and waldorf vibes)

14. What about Dustin?

Dustin I think actually thinks Billy is really cool. Like, he’s like a little double agent, hearing from Max all the annoying things about Billy, and from Steve the good things. He’ll gag if Steve gets too mushy over him and he’ll definitely join in with Max in calling Billy gross, and he also absolutely gives Billy a (very non-intimidating. he’s too soft) shovel talk, but I think he really likes and looks up to Billy as like, his other big brother.

15. Fav Harringrove AU?

Oh gosh, I can’t even pick. I think I like childhood friends aus best? They’re really fun to play with and it always ends up being super sweet. I’m a big fan of soulmates too for kind of the same reasons. I like mushy stuff.

16. Billy+Camaro=...??? (Not strictly Harringrove, but I can't not to ..)

I honestly don’t think Billy cares about the camaro that much. He’d be sad when it gets totaled because that was his only way of getting around and also his first car, but I don’t think the car itself has that much value to him. I mean, he treats it with absolutely zero respect, jumping curbs and driving too fast and slamming on those breaks. The camaro is just a car. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ll tag: @lifegaurd-hargrove85! @deardmvz! and @strangebrainrot! no pressure! and as usual, if anybody else sees this and wants to participate, feel free!

[schibi12]

🐸!

I'm gonna choose Muppets from Space cause I know Gonzo is you favorite.

Being called Muppets from Space there is not a lot of Space in this movie kind of a misleading title but it's still a good movie.

I do like the shift in the main character since it always Kermit so it is nice to change views for once.

I think the story is good finally answering one of the Muppets greatest Mysteries What is Gonzo? And it gives a great answer to it but not yet.

I like how they establish how Gonzo feels isolated like he doesn't know what he is or where he comes from like with opening scene of him being rejected by Noah which ouch and how he doesn't fit in really also why did they chose a picture of gonzo far away in a beach as his family picture couldn't they have chosen one with him and Camila just saying.

I love the concept of all the muppets living in one big house including Statler and Waldorf as shady grandparents and Kermit just trying to keep order and stability and like this could be a series honestly I would watch it Disney make it happen!!

And I like how it's starts like they are slightly worried of Gonzo, to Rizzo an Pepe pranking him to Gonzo might be crazy with tinfoil and everything but it wouldn't be a Muppets movie without some shenanigans.

It is a funny and fun movie but I do feel it drags a bit not saying its too long it gets boring sometimes.

And it is not a musical which is fine nothing wrong with it but it does have a few musical scenes which where nice.

Then we get our grand reveal our dear Gonzo is an alien and it honestly makes sense I am not disappointed by that reveal like other fans and I like how Gonzo during the movie feels like he doesn't have a family or nobody cares for him but he did the Muppets they where always there for him and they went through all that trouble to save him, his family was always there and it's wholesome.

And I do like that he chooses to stay and how nobody stops him they say their farewells and how much they love him which is so sweet but I would change one thing of that scene just add one simple thing... Camila Gonzo's Great Love hello people where is their goodbye?!?!?! It should have been such a bittersweet and emotional moment but no she wasn't there like come on guys.

Overall a good movie kinda underrated in the fandom but its a lot of fun I give this movie 3.5 out of 5 frogs.

🐸🐸🐸

Thanks for the ask!

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Rachel Nobel / Rae Lynn

Rachel Nobel, aka Rae Lynn, has 2 fics at Gossamer, but she’s written many more X-Files stories than that. You can also find fics by her at AO3 and various other archives. She’s one of the rare, special authors who’s posted numerous fic during the show’s original run and again in recent years. Big thanks to Rachel for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)? Absolutely. I joined a Facebook group for fanfic writers where someone recognized my name and asked about some of my stories that have disappeared from the Internet, and I almost fell off my chair. On the other hand, I go back and read original-run fanfic all the time - the Wayback Machine is my best friend for all the late great fanfic archives. Like fine wines, they get better with age! What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it? I was fairly young during the peak of the fandom - I was only 12 when I started watching the show and discovered the fandom online. A few years ago, right around the time we learned the revival was coming, I wrote an essay I called "How 'The X-Files' defined my adolescence," in which I wrote: "If you think about it, 'The X-Files' is a lot like adolescence: You start out thinking it's going to be a little hokey, NBD, and then you end up in its thrall, captivated and occasionally hugely let down. A lot of people behave strangely, and no one gets out unscathed. Mulder, in his own weird way, is the perfect mirror for an adolescent: He doesn't fit in; his life careens between being utterly consequential to the fate of the known universe and being completely pointless; he's socially awkward and can't quite nail it down with the girl of his dreams."

So for me, the fandom is inextricably bound up with adolescence, that feeling of vacillating between desperate loneliness and being on the verge of something enormously significant. Take romance: I was a bit of a late bloomer, and when all my friends were exploring their first relationships I was watching Mulder and Scully navigate this beautiful, complicated, soulful relationship without ever even kissing. That was deeply affecting for me as a teen.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)? I started out on mailing lists - there was an EMXC mailing list and one that I think was called X-Angst. [Lilydale note: There was a mailing list called XAngst Anonymous.] This was back at the dawn of the Internet when I only had 10 hours of AOL access a month, and I remember using what AOL called a "FlashSession" to log on, download all the fanfic from the mailing list and log off to read it. I vividly remember the excitement of watching all that new fanfic flood my inbox! Later on I was on atxc. During the long summer between "Gethsemane" and "Redux," it felt like fanfic was at its peak. There was a group of about a dozen women who got together (virtually) to discuss a work in progress by Lydia Bower called "Primal Sympathy." We called ourselves the "Primal Screamers," and we had our own website with fanfic recommendations and other discussions (it cracked me up to locate us as an entry on Fanlore.org). I was still in high school at the time and I was the youngest member; I felt like I had been accepted into a cool underground club. I worshipped these women, who were fanfic writers themselves. They taught me everything I knew about how to be a decent, respectful, enthusiastic consumer and writer of fanfic and fandom. [Lilydale note: I’ve talked enthusiastically about the Primal Screamers here before, including their fanfic primer.] What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general? In the '90s, I would have been embarrassed to tell anyone I read fanfic, let alone that I was writing it. Now, I look back on it and realize how talented and smart and passionate we all were. It's something to be proud of. What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show? The first episode I ever saw was "Shadows," which was on in reruns between the second and third seasons. I don't think "Shadows" is an episode that anyone today would consider thematically significant, but something about seeing those office supplies float spookily through the air - it wasn't like anything I had seen on television, and I wanted in. What got you involved with X-Files fanfic? I've always been a person who, when I am interested in something, seeks to learn more about it. So I guess I got online as a 12-year-old with this new interest and discovered fanfic. It was thrilling to find out that so many talented people were taking characters I loved and bringing them to life for me. When the screen faded to black each week and I wondered, "That's it? What next?", fanfic was always there to fill in the blanks and take Mulder and Scully to the next level. As a teenager, I was self-indulgent enough to think I had something to contribute, too. Most of what I wrote in the '90s would today make me cringe. I remember literally paging through the dictionary in search of erudite words I thought Mulder and Scully would say! But occasionally I'll feel brave enough to read an old story and I feel encouraged to see a spark: a turn of phrase or a fragment of dialogue that I still feel proud of. I write professionally now, but I've never written fiction that isn't X-Files fiction, so it's something that has really allowed me to hone my creative juices in a different way. What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom? Sometimes I feel like the Statler and Waldorf of the fandom, like I'm sitting up in the balcony grousing "Back in my day...!" Because the fandom is remarkably robust, and I've gotten involved with it to an extent on Twitter and AO3, and now all these young whippersnappers idolize Mulder and Scully just as much if not more as I ever did! Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files? Not really, no. I've of course consumed a lot of media since The X-Files that I wanted to discuss with others - I'm a huge "Harry Potter" nerd, and I was outraged when Netflix canceled "The OA" - but strangely I've never had the urge to read or write fanfic about anything other than "The X-Files." Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully? Every Thursday night! I watch a chosen episode with a group of fans on Twitter and tweet about it - #tbtXFiles. That's great fun. There are episodes I've seen dozens of times over the years and episodes I think I only ever watched once, and it's always enlightening to watch them again with a certain critical eye. When I was a fan during the original run, I really idolized Mulder; I loved episodes where we saw him in all his cracked genius glory. Scully was a trailblazer of a character, of course, but I think the fandom has evolved over the years to give Scully her due. Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom? I was fairly stunned when the revival came around and I realized that people were still writing X-Files fic, and that a lot of it was so good. So yes, I do read fic on Archive of Our Own. But my heart is always with the early days of fanfic. In the revival when Mulder says "I've always wondered how this was going to end" - that felt to me almost like a love letter to fanfic authors who had been trying to answer that question for 25 years. Surprisingly, I've never had the urge to read fic in another fandom. Every time I try, it just feels like I'm cheating on Mulder and Scully. Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors? My favorite author back in the day was Kipler. Her stories were just like real episodes of the show I could vividly imagine in my mind. I adore syntax6, particularly "20" and "The Birthday Stories," because of the way she perfectly and poignantly captures vignettes that span the entire series. Another favorite is Dawn and her "Blood Ties" series - I started out as a "NoRomo," and Dawn was one of the authors who made me believe Mulder and Scully could have a romantic relationship that really worked. And I always had a soft spot for Profiler!Mulder stories, so to this day I mourn the unfinished state of the great Kronos fic "Ascent to Hell." One fic I always come back to that captures profiling Mulder really well is "Domination of Lies," by cslatton. And then there are stories that I consider classics: "Corpse" by Livengoo, "Oklahoma" by Amperage and Livengoo, the "Revelations" and "All Hallow's Eve" series by Windsinger. What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise? I have a soft spot for a story I wrote called "Human Credential." I was attempting, a quarter-century after the first season of the show, to set a story in the very early days of the partnership (which these days is one of my favorite kinds of fanfic to read), and I felt like I nailed it. Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online? I have been doing both of these, as a matter of fact! Or in my case, they are oldies that made it online but vanished when Geocities went belly-up, for example, that I sometimes go back to and reshape. Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work? As the swallows return to Capistrano, I seem to always return to writing fic at periods of transition in my life. The first time I "retired" from fanfic, I wasn't even in college yet! If one can be nostalgic at 21 years old for something one gave up at 17, I was nostalgic for fanfic, and I picked it back up again in grad school. Then I became a teacher and a wife and a mom and years passed, and the revival seduced me back into it again. But the vast majority of fanfic I've written is firmly planted in the first seven seasons of the show - poor Mulder and Scully never seem to get to grow up in my stories. What's the story behind your pen name? I wrote under a lot of pen names over the years! When I first started writing fanfic, no one knew anything about Internet safety and it didn't occur to me that it wasn't wise to use my real name. There was a period when I would have been mortified if anyone discovered my stories under my real name - now, at least I can write it off as a youthful indulgence! When I finally grew into a more mature writer, I started using the name Rae Lynn, which is almost-but-not-quite my real first and middle names. Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions? As far as I know, unless my friends and acquaintances have done some sleuthing, only my husband knows I still write fanfic. And he's never read it, though he's kind enough to give me a glazed-eyes indulgent smile if I ever talk about it. Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now? I am xraelynn on AO3! I have about a dozen stories there - some of them I wrote 15 years ago and some of them are brand spanking new. Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Fanfic is a true labor of love. Fanfic authors don't write fanfic for money or fame; they do it because they love it. Sites like AO3 and Tumblr have made it so much easier to show your appreciation to writers (::gruff reminiscing voice:: back in my day, you had to send them an email, and now you can just click the "kudos" button!). I can only speak for myself, but I really thrive on that feedback - otherwise I'm just Mulder in his cramped hovel of a home office waiting for Scully to nag me to shave my beard. Every so often I think about the fact that there is so much high-quality writing about these characters I've loved for decades just available on the Internet for free and it feels like a true gift.

(Posted by Lilydale on May 4, 2021)

[devilsrecreation]

Soooooo Hey Buddy I’m back again with HCS!

I recently have been thinking about your post on the Moopets, well mostly about the whole:

“they’re the opposite of their Muppet counterparts”.

So it had me thinking about Waldorf and Statler including Astoria’s Moopet selves. I want to know your opinion on my ideas for them

1) Moopet Waldorf & Statler are really nice (obviously) and the two are neighbors.

2) They live in the suburbs, two story houses with balconies because yes

3) Waldorf has a Garden & Statler writes poetry sometimes books

4) Waldorf wears a Brown turtle neck with dark Brown pants while Statler wears a Navy Blue sweater with White pants.

5) Since in my hc Waldorf and Statler are married their Moopets counter parts probably have feels for each other they won’t talk about.

6) Moopet Astoria is basically like every nice grandma that bakes you cookies.

7) Statler loves his Grandson more than anything. Waldorf finds that somewhat cute

8) Foozie scares them,yet sometimes try and help him. I could see them bailing him out of jail and some situations. (it sounds fun as an idea)

9) Astoria sees Foozie as like her own child, despite his criminal background she’s very fond of him .

10) Waldorf and Statler are very charitable. Waldorf enjoys helping others.

EYYYYYYYYYYY

Also I never thought of Wooldorf and Stootler. It’s an interesting concept!

Plus, I kinda wanna see Fozzie meet them and be like “Can we switch critics, please?” bc they def seem like the people to find the good side out of everything they see and Fozzie NEEDS that support

Though let’s face it, Foozie would totally butt heads with Waldorf and Statler. I’d pay to see that happen

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: My Top Ten Muppets

Listeners of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour recently cast their votes to rank the best Muppets – an impossible decision, really. And yet, once the top ten list was read aloud on the podcast, I found myself completely unsurprised. It’s a list that made sense, a list of safe bets. It’s also an incredibly Muppet Show-heavy list, even though the competition was open to Muppets of all properties, including Sesame Street and my beloved Dark Crystal. The full top 25 list, available here, reveals that a few Sesame Street Muppets ranked in the teens, but still. We all know the top ten is where it’s at, and this top ten was neither creative nor representative. It struck me as a list of popular Muppets, not a list of the best Muppets. Most of my favorites weren’t on that list at all!

So, here’s my take on the ten best Muppets – and because I don’t believe in objective Muppet rankings, I want YOU to reblog this post and tell me your favorites!

10. Swedish Chef              

The Chef came in ninth on NPR’s rankings, and I gotta be honest, I’m on the same page with them on this one. Maybe it’s the fact that when he comes onscreen, there’s no way to predict how the sketch will end. Maybe it’s the bizarreness of human fingers on Muppet arms – and knowing that those arms indicate a frankly superhuman feat of teamwork going on under the table. Maybe it’s just the Popcorn video, which always brightens my mood. Whatever it is, the Swedish Chef is definitely tenth best.

9. Fozzie Bear

I like Fozzie. He’s an underdog, never giving up in his pursuit of fame and audience acclaim. And even though his whole shtick is that he can’t succeed – Statler and Waldorf always get bigger laughs during his bits – he objectively has succeeded, because he’s still around and making us laugh after all these years.

What puts Fozzie in the top ten for me, though, is that I genuinely find his jokes funny. Honestly. I really do. So maybe Fozzie Bear sketches don’t really work for me, but Fozzie Bear himself does.

8. Rosita

I mentioned my disappointment before in the “official” ranking’s lack of Sesame Street characters. Sure, the cast of The Muppet Show has had a notable cultural impact, but it would be a disservice to Muppetkind if we ignored the impact of their friends on Sesame Street.

I could never forget Rosita. She’s not the most popular Muppet; she’s never had a super catchy song or a roll-on-the-floor-laughing one-liner to rival the others’ success. But her “Spanish Word of the Day” segments have a permanent spot in my memory. She’s sweet, she’s sincere, and she’s an excellent friend to her more famous fellow Muppets. (And as a bilingual Muppet, she’s really hecking important – there’s an episode where she deals with some kids making fun of her accent, and it’s equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming!)

7. Rowlf

While other Muppets have one-note personalities – see number 10 on this list above, and number 5 below – there’s also Muppets like Rowlf. He’s not an “Anything Muppet,” by any means – he’s a character in his own right – but Rowlf is a dog who rises to any occasion. He sits at the piano to bring both beautiful classical pieces and hilarious parodies to life, and it’s all music to my ears. He can be the Straight Man to more chaotic Muppets’ antics, but just one clip of “Veterinarian’s Hospital” proves that he’s got enough silliness in him to take center stage.

And all the while, no matter what role he’s playing, he’s still that chill dog I adore – calm and adorable, with that round black nose, those big fluffy paws, and those floppy ears just begging to be scratched.

6. Deethra

As much as I love the original Dark Crystal film, the Netflix prequel series Age of Resistance has one big thing going for it: its characters. The protagonists of this show draw me in and make me care, quickly and continually. And best among them all is Deet. Deethra the Gelfling – small and beautiful, kind and powerful. She cares wholeheartedly about the world around her, and that care begets a wisdom that balances out her naivete in fascinating ways.

Muppets are so often silly, and we love them for it. But Deet embodies the Muppets’ potential to tell a serious story, a potential we would be remiss to ignore.

5. Animal

Oh my god, Animal. If you want to talk about the sheer silliness of Muppets, you need to talk about Animal. There’s just no way around it. He’s loud – in both sound and color scheme. And he’s absolutely bonkers. I know every drummer has an Animal in them, and it’s likely that all humans do. We’re just not all comfortable with letting him out to play.

That’s what’s so great about watching Animal do his thing. He has no inhibitions; he is freedom, he is chaos. And he lets me feel a little freer by association.

4. Hup

I talked a bit about underdogs in the Fozzie Bear section above. There’s an essay to be written about the Muppet as underdog; it’s an essential Muppet quality. Muppets are characters you logically wouldn’t expect to succeed, but they persevere, nonetheless.

Hup is the underdog of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. He’s the Podling who wants to be a paladin. Dear god he’s adorable, dear god he’s funny, and dear god do you root for him (and his spoon) to save the day! Of all the characters in this show, he feels the most Muppety – and that’s why he’s higher on the list than Deet. He’s still a serious character in a serious story (when he cries… my goodness), but he’s got that classic Muppet spirit to him.

3. Elmo

You know, I just don’t get why Elmo gets such a bad rap. Is it that people think he’s annoying? Sure, he is! Muppets are objectively annoying characters – they all are. Yes, even the one you’re thinking of right now. But I fricking love Elmo. He’s joyful, he’s spirited, and he’s exploring the world around him in that carefree way only a child can – and he brings you along on that adventure! “Elmo’s World” is your world. “Elmo’s Song” is your song. Elmo’s laugh is fricking infectious. And yeah, I’m probably biased by nostalgia (my dad’s Elmo impression cracks me up to this day), but Elmo is a darn good Muppet and he deserves our respect and admiration.

2. SkekSil

On a completely different note… let’s talk about the Chamberlain. There aren’t really that many Muppet villains. There are plenty of Muppet henchmen, providing comic relief for a human actor who isn’t supposed to be seen as that much of a threat anyway. The Skeksis of Dark Crystal are a notable exception, and SkekSil, better known as the Chamberlain, stands out among them. He is evil and he is smart. I hate him, and at the same time, I am fascinated by him. He knows what he wants and how to get it, even though he’s nowhere near as strong as the other Skeksis. He is, in his own way, an underdog. He believes in himself, and he wields that confidence as a weapon, calmly explaining to his enemies why they should do what he wants. You just can’t look away. He’s an amazing character, embodying the dark side of Muppethood.

1. Cookie Monster

When my mom first shared that episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour with me, in which the hosts talked about their favorite Muppets, I first thought, “How could you decide?” And then Stephen Thompson said his favorite was Cookie Monster, and I shouted “YES!!!” out loud. Because he’s right – Cookie’s the best.

Cookie Monster is eternally funny, whether you’re five or fifty-five. Everything that comes out of his mouth is pure gold (“Why me not get royalties?”) He’s got the best songs – not only the classic “C is for Cookie,” but also “Me Want It (But Me Wait),” “Me Am What Me Am,” and the “Healthy Foods” rap. All the stuff I love about other Muppets on this list – the unpredictability, the ability to fit into any role a sketch requires, the lack of inhibitions, the confidence, the chaos, the unexpected moments of wisdom – he’s got it all. He’s irreplaceable, he’s lovable, and he’s the top of my Top Ten Muppets list.

[muchymozzarella]

Early Dorian info that I found on google

[DRAGON AGE]: Let's start at the beginning. What can you tell us about Dorian? [DAVID GAIDER]: Dorian is a mage from the Tevinter Imperium, and his experiences are radically different from those of mages elsewhere. [DA]: How so? [DG]: In Tevinter, mages form the ruling class. He comes from a wealthy and influential family, one of many that arrange marriages and raise their children to become perfect mages… yet Dorian has rejected that life. He's seen the corruption to which it leads, and he refuses to play along despite the fact it's made him something of a pariah. [DA]: Can you expand on the "corruption" he's seen? [DG]: Without spoiling the plot, I'll say that Dorian got wind of something that his fellow Tevinter mages were doing, and decided to intervene. As he sees it, someone from Tevinter needs to stand up and say, "We don't agree with what these people are doing. They don't represent all of us." [DA]: Dorian has been described as sharp-tongued, with a knack for producing a great quip even in times of grave danger. How would you describe him? [DG]: Dorian is smart—perhaps too smart for his own good, really. He was raised in a society where both intelligence and wit are prized, where advancing yourself socially means outmaneuvering your peers, and he does so quite well… or, at least, he would if he didn't see through it all. That's left him rather jaded and sarcastic, naturally. [DA]: You're sure you didn't play some small part in cultivating that for him? [DG]: I tend to start at "sarcastic" and work my way from there. [DA]: Dorian is also a highly skilled mage. That sounds pretty useful on the battlefield. [DG]: He enjoys using his magic and doesn't see any reason why he should be ashamed about it. So he unleashes his full power when it's needed… and he has plenty of power to unleash, seeing as he comes from a society where mages are trained to use it rather than hide it. This includes powerful elemental spells, as well as spells involving the control of spirit and the dead—things societies outside of Tevinter might turn up their noses at and claim "distasteful." [DA]: Dorian seems to have a conflicted love-hate-love relationship with his homeland. Does he ever think about just leaving it all behind? [DG]: He doesn't believe that the situation in Tevinter is beyond repair, despite how impossible it seems that he personally might be able to do anything about it. Dorian has a streak of idealism hidden beneath his sarcasm, which naturally can lead him to be all the more disappointed when the world does exactly what he suspects it's going to. [DA]: How does Dorian compare to characters you've written in the past? [DG]: Dorian is an outcast—by choice, but only insofar as he chose not to live according to the expectations of his society. There are a lot of aspects to that which I enjoyed exploring, and which I haven't had to chance to do with other characters. [DA]: Anything in particular? [DG]: Dorian is gay—he is, in fact, the first fully gay character I've had the opportunity to write. It added an interesting dimension to his back story, considering he comes from a place where "perfection" is the face that every mage puts on and anything that smacks of deviancy is shameful and meant to be hidden. Dorian's refusal to play along with that façade is seen as stubborn and pointless by his family, which has contributed to his status as a pariah. [DA]: Are you happy with how his character turned out? [DG]: I suppose this aspect of Dorian will make him controversial in some corners, but I was glad to include it. It made writing Dorian a very personal experience for me, and I'm hopeful that will make him seem like a fully realized character to fans in the end. [DA]: Dorian's sarcasm must create some rather interesting banter with other members of the Inquisition. Any personal favorite combinations stand out for you? [DG]: I think I enjoy his relationship with Vivienne the most. They're complete opposites and will tear into each other viciously—or, at least, that's what it looks like to outsiders. [DA]: After listening to Mary Kirby talk about Vivienne's power, we're not so sure that's Dorian's wisest move. [DG]: Really, they find it good fun, and they'll go from arguing to banding together in order to criticize someone else in a cold second—like the Statler and Waldorf of Thedas. I love that. [DA]: Having a Qunari around has also got to yield some strange interactions. [DG]: Dorian's relationship with the Iron Bull is interesting. The Qunari have been at war with the Tevinter Imperium for centuries, after all, and the fact that neither Dorian nor Iron Bull are typical of their people makes for an intriguing arc.

Found it while looking for the first mention of the Dorian and Bull romance. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-350177-p-4.html