#or maybe I thought of it because it is my favorite muppet song

[madmachaca]

I choose to believe that Gordon's words at the end were yet another reference to the Muppets.

[pukner]

I just had a thought sorry for spilling it here but platonic stobin s5 steve death with orpheus & eurydice-style plotline of robin pulling some improbable scientific and supernatural strings to get steve back and hahahahah um surprise eddie is there too & he’s been helping steve survive in whatever underlayer of life/death they’ve found themselves in because he’s been navigating it for a bit now

hey anon. Anon don't apologize can u please elaborate I'm losing it????

god, robin loving Steve so much she rends apart the veil between life and death. Maybe Steve dies in the Upside-Down. Maybe she feels like some part of her died with him. Maybe she was screaming as the gate closed, reaching out desperately for the other half of her heart, maybe she had to be held back, had to be told, robin, you can't bring him back. Robin, please, he's dead already, please.

Maybe it's like Robin died. Maybe she's the one doing the haunting. Maybe she's being haunted. She hears him laugh in her ear as she fumbles a conversation. Hears him hum his favorite song when it comes on the radio. She smells his shampoo in the breeze. She can't sleep, because sometimes she feels the weight of him against her back, like they're lying back-to-back again, like they did in Starcourt. Back when they were giggling children waiting to die.

Maybe she looks drawn and pale and won't talk to anyone. No one sounds right. No one gets it. She has a Walkman, plays his favorite song on a loop, like she's been cursed.

She hears his voice on the radio instead of Dancing in the Dark. She follows his laughter in the wind, bad dad jokes and terrible puns, down to the scar where the gate was.

She doesn't know how she gets through. All she has is Springsteen and his bat. She can't sleep without either. She doesn't sleep much anyway.

She wanders this corpse of a world, empty without Henry to fuel it, and waits. Sings Total Eclipse of the Heart in a stupid muppet voice. Sings Springsteen. Narrates all the things that have happened since the gate closed, but only the funny bits. The happy bits. Not that she's been there for them, but.

She hears him sing back, croaky and amused. She doesn't dare look. She hears him laugh when she fumbles the words. She can't hear to turn her head to where the voice is coming from. Can't bear to see nothing at all.

Slowly, she gets up and walks to the gate. She hears footsteps, someone singing with her, and she can't bear to look, and she's shaking and she thinks she might've lost her mind.

You sit around getting older, she whispers, voice hoarse. It's been hours, she thinks. Days, maybe.

There's a joke here somewhere and it's on me, Steve sings back, and he sounds real. And then--

I'll shake this world off my shoulders, someone else joins in, and Robin shakes.

Come on, baby, the laugh's on me, they all sing, and they sound like home.

She makes it through the gate on unsteady legs. She stumbles forward, into the burning sunlight, into a world alive. Nearly plants on her face, but then strong, real arms catch her. Someone laughs in her ear, warm breath on her face.

"Oh, Rob," says Steve, and she can feels his tears on her shoulder, "Oh, bud. I gotcha. I got--"

She spins around and hugs him, a sob ripping out of her throat. Another pair of arms encircle them, and she looks up. Eddie Munson, haggard and worse for wear, grins down at her.

"Heya, Buckley," he says, "Hope you didn't mind me crashing your cute little lovers' reunion."

"Gross," she says, instead of bursting into further tears, "We're not like that."

"Yeah," says Steve, tucking her face into his neck, where she can smell salt and iron and dirt, "She's, like. The other half of my heart or whatever, doesn't mean we're dating."

"Oh, good," says Eddie, brightly, from where he's plastered to the pair of them like a gangly limpet, "Because I've spent all of our shared undeath sucking face with the other half of your heart, Buckley, and that might make things awkward."

Robin snorts out a laugh, and alright, now she's crying again. She tightens her grip on Steve, listens to his heartbeat, feels the pulse in the hollow of his throat, the rumble of his chest as he tells Eddie Munson to shut the fuck up.

Her Walkman's still playing. She's holding her heart, and his annoying boyfriend. She's no longer haunted, no longer haunting.

[disastergenius]

Celebrating 15 years of Team Starkid with my (current) ranking of all of their shows and brief thoughts on them.

VHS Christmas Carol

I don't know how this became my favorite. The music is top tier, I've liked every version of it.

I was initially nervous to watch it because I wasn't sold on the original format, but it grew on me.

Also it's the second best adaptation of A Christmas Carol (the best is still the Muppet Christmas Carol)

2. A Very Potter Musical

My first ever Starkid show.

I watched it with my sister on our very old computer. I was in maybe 6th grade and had become quite obsessed with musicals and Harry Potter, so it perfectly combined my interests.

I truly was not totally sold on it just because 6th grade me was not prepared for all the cursing and the dirty jokes (6th grade me was a very different person) but Granger Danger fully hooked me

I still hold that Granger Danger is the best Starkid song, i do not care that it gets (over)played all the time. I also love that they keep having to come up with new ways to perform it (my favorite/the best being the LeakyCon one with Meredith directing the rest of the cast who only half-remember it)

Definitely ranks high just because it was the first and nostalgically I love it so much

3. Trail to Oregon

It's so fun as a concept and one of the few shows I like that really uses audience participation and makes it work.

Joey credited as "Everyone Else" and every shot with Clark in the background

I like the smaller cast, it's such a feat to run a show like that with 6 cast members

4. A Very Potter Sequel

it's ranked 4th but it probably actually ties with Trail to Oregon

I watched it after AVPM (so my second starkid show) and it did not disappoint

I do think it is stronger than AVMP for most of it

I quote Draco a lot

5. Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier

Definitely my favorite parody they've done. There's a great video that breaks down why it works so well: they've nailed the style.

Around the same time I first watched Twisted was also around my Wicked phase so that helped a lot.

Dylan Saunders knocks out it out of the park as Ja'far, he puts so much depth into the role. It works as an actor and for the part and helps a lot of the humor since Ja'far is the straight man of the show.

The entire soundtrack slaps including the bonus demos

6. Nerdy Prudes Must Die

The songs are great

The production value on their shows has gone up exponentially, and they make good use of it. The effects are so so good

I've never been more uncomfortable as when the words "dirty girl soup" were first said

7. Black Friday

probably tied with NPMD but

I think plot-wise it is better than NPMD, and overall so are the songs. I think maybe the live version that's on youtube is what makes it slightly below NPMD because everyone was sick so it sounds very different between the live and recorded.

the garland and lights becoming wiggly is peak set design

I think it has some of the most memorable songs

the return of Dylan Saunders and his lovely ballads

Take Me Back is a top tier love song for Starkid

8. Starship

Probably the 3rd Starkid show I saw

Joey Richter absolutely sells the performance (he's not carrying it because the whole cast is great) and is fantastic as the lead

puppets! so many puppets!

9. Holy Musical B@tman

my previous exposure to Batman at this point had been the 60s Adam West TV show so really this is like the spiritual successor of that, so honestly i was totally unfazed by the number of puns, I just assumed that was how Batman media was

Jeff Blim as Sweet Tooth is great, but I also love Joey Richter's in the Apocalyptour

"you got my hopes up so high, then mugged and shot them in an alleyway!" i quote an unreasonable amount

10. The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

tbh I did not super like the show when I first watched it but it grew on me overtime. I think i really started to enjoy it when I went back to watch it after they announced Black Friday was going to be a sequel

11. A Very Potter Senior Year

it's so long guys

I think Joey Richter is the best part of it, Sidekick was fantastic

i do love that they got basically everyone they could to come back and do it

most of the callbacks work really well and make it fun

12. Ani: A Parody

fully gonna admit I haven't seen the full show itself, but I do really like the music

it is truly in the Star Wars spirit

13. Firebringer

I really wish I liked this show more, I think it's a fun concept and overall was fun

the opening number is really good musically

i think the humor and the unnecessary cursing didn't really work for me

14. Me and My Dick

I just think overall this show isn't to my taste but it's quite fun

[dlwritings]

Hair Salon | Steve Harrington

masterlist found here

pairing - Steve Harrington x reader (no gender specified) | Steve x Nancy word count - 2,253 warnings - my attempt at angst A/N - I found this song on TikTok (Hair Salon by Megan Moroney) and kept wanting to write a story around it, so here it is | THERE ARE NO S4 SPOILERS HERE

summary - You return to your hometown after years of being away, only to find that the boy you loved had found someone else. You never thought you’d find yourself heartbroken in a hair salon.

It had been a few years since you were last in Hawkins. You left for college and didn’t even come back over the summers. Now, you were 22 and finally ventured back home. Something was calling you back. Maybe it was that stupid curse. Not that you believed in that.

The first thing you did when you got back was book a hair appointment. Your favorite stylist, Bernadette, had a 10AM appointment available, so you went in to get your blonde color touched up. Bernadette was the perfect stylist. She knew her shit about hair and all the tea in town. She always joked that she’d make you pay for the color and throw in the drama for free. And now that you had been out of town for so long, you had a lot to catch up on.

“Hey, sweetheart!” Bernadette said when you walked in. You smiled and gave her a hug, accepting her kiss on the cheek that left a bit of lipstick in its wake. She popped her gum and led you to her chair, throwing the cape over your shoulders. Almost instantly, she dove into the stories of the town. “Tammy, you know Tammy?” she said.

“Tammy Thompson?” you clarified. She nodded, eyes wide and a grin on her face.

“Pregnant,” she said.

“No!” you said back, your expression matching hers.

“Mhm,” she said, as she mixed your color. “Said she met the daddy on the road.” You raised your eyebrows in question, and Bernadette laughed. “You know, that tour she’s doing.”

You snorted. “Tour. What, one of the Muppets knock her up?” Bernadette laughed, not noticing the way your smile faltered a bit at your own words. You had to admit it was a good joke, even if you weren’t the one who originally told it.

She went on to tell you about the high school football team winning the state championship and how rumors were going around that Mr. Wheeler was sleeping with some college intern at the company he worked for. You were fully invested in her story until you heard someone a few chairs away from yours say a name.

Steve Harrington.

Bernadette noticed the way your head whipped in the direction (she had to stop foiling your hair because of it) and hummed in acknowledgement. “Steve Harrington,” she said. “He proposed to Nancy Wheeler.”

“Oh,” you said, your voice soft.

“Mhm,” she hummed. “Guess he saved up big time for a ring. Beautiful ring, too. They make such a cute couple.”

Obviously, Bernadette didn’t know your history with Steve. She wasn’t trying to be hurtful or anything, so you just smiled and nodded, hoping she wasn’t noticing the tears in your eyes.

She rambled on after that, talking about how Eddie Munson was selling weed to the preacher’s kids, but you weren’t really listening. Your brain had floated off into memories you had been trying for four years to push away.

Steve didn’t know what was coming. How could he? Your relationship had been nothing but smooth sailing for years. But now, Steve was a full year out of high school and you were about to leave for college. He was obviously sad you were leaving, but more than that he was immensely proud of you. His smarty-pants was off to some ivy league and still cared enough to keep him around. You weren’t planning to fall for some pre-law douchebag. You wanted him, Family Video vest and all.

But he didn’t know what was going through your head.

The two of you were sitting at a picnic table at a park near your house eating ice cream you bought at a shop down the street. He was talking about something that happened with a customer at Family Video, but you weren’t really listening, and after a while, he could tell. You were absentmindedly stirring your now-melted ice cream, humming responses that didn’t really answer what he was saying.

“Hey,” he said, squeezing your hand. You jumped and looked up at him. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” He smiled and you tried to do the same, but he could see it didn’t meet your eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asked. You let go of your spoon and moved your hands away from his and to your lap, taking a shaky breath and forcing yourself to look at him. He deserved to at least see your eyes when you said this.

“Steve,” you said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about-”

“(Y/N)-”

“Please, let me say this,” you said. “I’ve been trying so hard to get myself to do this.” He pressed his lips into a tight line and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking at you again.

“Okay,” he whispered. You took another deep breath.

“You know I love you,” you said, “so much. But I, Stanford is so far away, and I can’t be with you without being with you, you know?”

“You think you’d cheat on me?” he asked.

“What?” you said. “No! Not at all. I just, one of the biggest parts of a relationship is time together, at least for me. So if I can’t spend time with you, then, then I’ve lost my favorite part of being in this relationship.” Steve nodded slowly, running a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“You’ve already made up your mind, huh?” he said, forcing out a laugh. You gave him a sad smile and nodded.

“Yeah,” you whispered. “I have.”

“And I don’t get any say?” he said. It was clear he was trying to stay level-headed, even though you knew his tell-tale signs of frustration. “I don’t get to mention how there’s phones and letters and cars and planes? How I have very little tying me to this city, and I could leave whenever I wanted with no regrets? How Henderson, freaking Henderson has a healthy relationship with some girl in Utah?”

“Just because Dustin can be happy with Suzie across the country doesn’t mean I can be happy with the same,” you said. “Everybody’s different. Not to mention Dustin and Suzie don’t value physical touch as much as we do.” You tried to joke, but Steve wasn’t in the mood.

“(Y/N),” he said, running a hand through his hair again. “Can’t I do anything to change your mind?”

You shook your head. “No. Like I said, I’ve made up my mind.” Quickly, you added, “And I’m not saying we’re done for good, you know?” He scoffed, but you continued. “Maybe someday I end up here again, and-”

“And what I’m just supposed to wait for you?” he said.

“No,” you said, getting frustrated now as well. “That would be so selfish of me to say that to you. I’m just saying, sometimes life-” You hesitated. “-works out I guess. Even if we don’t expect it to. We can't predict the future. I’m just saying I’m not leaving you because I don’t love you. I’ll never stop loving you.”

He tried to smile. He really did. You could see it in his eyes.

“And I’ll never stop loving you.”

“Honey?” Bernadette’s voice cut through your memory haze. “You okay?”

“Hm?” you hummed, blinking back some tears and looking at her reflection in the mirror. “Yeah. Yeah, just-” You mustered up a smile. “-I picked a good day to go blonde.”

When you left the hair salon, you sat in your car for a few minutes, hands on the steering wheel, staring blankly into space. Before you knew it, you had started the car and were leaving the salon, headed in the direction of none other than Steve Harrington’s house. You didn’t know what you were expecting when you arrived. Steve to fall in your arms and take you back?

What really happened was Steve’s dad answered the door.

“Well, hey (Y/N)!” he said with a smile. 

“Oh,” you said, your shoulders dropping. “Hi, Mr. Harrington. Is Steve home?”

He laughed. “Steve hasn’t lived here in, what, a year?”

“Right,” you said, nodding your head slowly. “That makes sense. Uh, where does he live now?”

“He and Nancy live in that old trailer park,” he said.

You nodded again. “Thanks.”

“You know,” Mr. Harrington said, just as you turned to go back to your car, “two of them are engaged now.”

“Yeah,” you said, swallowing thickly. “I know.” He silently nodded, and just when you were about to turn back around, he stopped you again.

“I always liked you, (Y/N),” he said. You looked at him, knowing there were tears in your eyes. “For what it’s worth.”

Not much. You’re a douchebag.

“Thanks, Mr. Harrington.”

Why you headed to the trailer park was beyond you. It was a Friday afternoon. Why would Steve be home? And if he was home, why wouldn’t Nancy be with him? Not to mention you didn’t even know what trailer was his.

But when you saw that old red car in front of one of the homes, you knew where to go.

You parked the car next to his and took a few more deep breaths, hands still gripping the wheel, much like you had been at the salon. Your feet moved on their own accord and brought you to the door of his trailer, and before you knew it, you were knocking.

If he doesn’t come in five seconds, I’ll-

You couldn’t even finish the thought before the door opened. The smile that had been on Steve’s face dropped. “(Y/N),” he said. You smiled weakly.

“Hi, Steve,” you whispered. He opened his mouth only to close it again.

After a few awkward seconds, he said, “Do you want to come in?”

You hesitated. “Is Nancy home?” A flicker of an emotion you couldn’t quite read went across his face.

“No,” he said. “No, she’s at work.” You nodded and walked inside, taking in the home he and Nancy had made for themselves. It was cute and cozy, and you could definitely see the touches of Nancy all over the place. It made your heart ache. You had, at one point, thought there would be touches of you all over Steve’s home. But you supposed that was a long time ago.

“I can’t stay long,” you finally said, tearing your eyes away from a framed photo of him and Nancy.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. He didn’t sound angry. If anything, he sounded sad. Hurt. Tired. Scared.

“I-” You hesitated. “I wanted to congratulate you. On the engagement.”

He shook his head. “No you didn’t.” You smiled sadly and hung your head.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Don’t bullshit me, (Y/N),” he said. “You can’t bullshit me. I haven’t seen you in four years, and now you just feel like you can waltz back here without warning? That’s not fair.”

“I know,” you said. “I’m sorry.”

“If you’re really sorry, you’ll tell me why you’re here,” he said, “or you’ll leave.”

“Jesus, Steve,” you said with a dramatic sigh, running a hand through your hair. “I don’t know. I guess I just, I wanted to see you. I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he said bluntly. “I moved on. I’m happy.”

“I know you are,” you said.

“So what you’re doing right now isn’t fair,” he said. “You can’t just walk in here and try to ruin my happiness.”

“I’m not!” you said.

“Then tell me why you’re really here!”

“God, I guess I just wanted to say that I still love you!” you shouted. “Is that a crime?”

“Yes!” he shouted. “Yeah, it is! Because I am with a woman I love, so you can’t come in here and tell me that shit!”

“Why?”

“Because maybe there’s a part of me that still loves you too!”

You were both quiet, the only sounds being your heavy breaths in the room. “Steve, I-”

“I love Nancy,” he said, cutting you off. “I love her so much. But, you know I’m always going to love you. At least a little.”

You sighed. “But I guess a little isn’t enough, is it?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s not.” He paused. “First loves don’t always work out, (Y/N).”

“Yeah,” you said, tears in your eyes. “I know.”

“You gotta move on,” he said, his voice gentler now. You hated how patronizing it sounded, but you knew he didn’t mean it that way. “I have. You, you can too.”

“I know,” you said again. “I know.”

You were both quiet, and you knew you needed to leave. There was nothing more to say. Nothing more to be done. Steve was happy, and who were you to get in the way of that? You turned to the door, but Steve stopped you for a moment. “What are you doing in town anyway?” he asked.

You shrugged. “Something was calling me back, I guess.”

He nodded. “What are you gonna do now?”

You laughed dryly. “It’s still always happy hour at the bar downtown, right?”

He chuckled as well. “Yeah. Of course.”

“Then I think I’ll be there,” you said. “Can’t let Bernadette’s work go to waste.” Steve smiled, his eyes flickering over your newly styled hair, and walked you the few steps to the door.

“You know,” he said before you walked out, “I always liked your natural hair color.”

You swallowed back the lump in your throat and nodded. “I know.”

----- ----- ----- -----

add yourself to my TAGLIST

strike-through means Tumblr won’t let me tag you

@bangtan-serendipity

@planetdemon

@the-singing-clown406​

@tomshufflepuff​

@bluelalal​

@grandloser​

@jackiehollanderr​

@mindset-jupiter

@bisexual-sk8r

@feel-like-gold

@runaway-apple

@miraclesoflove

@marvelismylifffe

@wonderbyers

@coraz0ndcristal

@lizmarvel

@delicately-important-trash

@superhoorny4daddy

@misshale21

@toniinhere

@golden-hoax

@peterparkerbae

@bunnyweasley23

@ur-local-cuddlebunny

@xoxoloverb  

If you want to be taken off the list (or be put on for only certain people) just message me and let me know!

[wishingstarinajar]

Have you ever listened to a musical before? O: Do you have any favorite? I for one love one called Six and Beetlejuice! (If the answer to the first is no, do you have any favorite disney song? <.<)

((If the answer to even that one is none, maybe any childhood nursery rhymes you like? xD))

All these backup questions, thank you xDD

I listen to musical songs from time to time and if it's available, I watch recordings of musicals as well. I haven't seen many of the popular musicals though, like Wicked.

During my late teens, I was obsessed with the Cats musical and watched it often (the new one can rot in a ditch somewhere). For my birthday during my early twenties, my mom took me to see the Lion King musical because I used to be a Lion King nerd. I thought the Shrek musical and Avenue Q were hilarious. Hamilton made me cry. The Disney Cruise and Park musicals are... something x'D.

And if I haven't seen the "Broadway" version of a musical (recorded or live), I may have seen it in movie form like Beetlejuice, Little Shop of Horrors and Moulin Rouge, Sweeney Todd, Rocky's Horror Picture Show, Les Miserables, Sound of Music, Grease, La La Land, Mama Mia, Hairspray, along with all the animated Disney movies and some live action ones, some Muppets stuff, other animated musicals and so on.

Do I have any favorites? I can't say I do but I do/did enjoy a lot of them.

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Kermit the Frog

Favorite thing about them: How kind, friendly, and idealistic he is, and how he usually serves as the stable "eye of the hurricane" among the craziness of the Muppets. Yet at the same time, how relatably (and humorously) stressed and angry he becomes when his patience is tested too far. Then there's his dry humor and sarcasm (which was more pronounced in the Tales from Muppetland and early Muppet Show era than in more recent years – in those days he could be a real smart aleck!), and his poetic dreamer quality, which probably stands out the most in his signature song, "Rainbow Connection." Because he's such a famous pop culture icon, it's easy to forget just how three-dimensional and (for want to a better word) human he is as a character, but he really is.

Least favorite thing about them: He can sometimes be a little mean when he loses his temper.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I love music and performing.

*Like both Kermit and @ariel-seagull-wings, I want to make people happy through the arts.

*I can be quiet and thoughtful sometimes, fun-loving and exuberant at other times.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I couldn't handle the stress of being the Muppets' leader.

*I don't have any desire to date a pig.

*I'm not green.

Favorite line:

From The Muppet Show:

Me, not crazy? I hired the others!"

From his showdown with Doc Hopper in The Muppet Movie:

"Yeah, well, I've got a dream, too. But it's about singing and dancing and making people happy. That's the kind of dream that gets better the more people you share it with. And, well, I've found a whole bunch of friends who have the same dream... And it kind of makes us like a family. Do you have anybody like that, Hopper? I mean, once you get all those restaurants, who are you gonna share it with? Who are your friends, Doc? Those guys?... I don't think you're a bad man, Doc. And I think if you look in your heart, you'll find you really wanna let me and my friends go to follow our dreams. But if that's not the kind of man you are, or what I'm saying doesn't make any sense to you, well, then, go ahead and kill me."

brOTP: The other Muppets, especially Fozzie, Gonzo, and his nephew Robin.

OTP: Miss Piggy, with reservations (see below).

nOTP: Any human.

Random headcanon: The original script for 1969's Hey, Cinderella! called for the Fairy Godmother to turn him into a coachman. But he had too much pride in his frog heritage to want such a thing – and besides, none of the human actors who auditioned for the part of Coachman-Kermit could imitate his voice well enough – so the script was changed to have him refuse to be turned human and drive the coach as a frog.

Unpopular opinion: I'm not particularly invested in shipping him with Miss Piggy. Their having broken up (again) in the 2015 ABC series doesn't outrage me, and to be honest, I wouldn't have minded if they had never "officially" gotten together at all, but had kept their old Muppet Show dynamic of Piggy pursuing Kermit unrequitedly. (Although a part of me is glad they moved past that, because dragging it out for decades might have made Piggy seem pathetic.) Maybe it's because I'm not a fan of "on-and-off" pairings, maybe it's because of Piggy's tendency to be violent when Kermit offends her, or maybe it's just because my introduction to the Muppets was Muppet Babies, which solidified "Kermit and Piggy are friends and Piggy just wishes they were a couple" as their default relationship in my mind. But while they've had nice romantic moments over the years, I'm content to see them be good friends instead of lovers.

Song I associate with them:

"Bein' Green"

"Rainbow Connection"

Favorite picture of them:

Some of these are borrowed from @ariel-seagull-wings

In his "Sesame Street News Flash" outfit:

As a baby:

With Jim Henson:

This poignant cartoon drawn by a Disney artist in 1990:

(I'd like to think Mickey came to visit and console him after Jim Henson died because he remembered going through the same pain when Walt Disney died.)

And with Miss Piggy:

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Oh, following up on my last ask, do you think the Wachowskis all have their own special songs? Like, I think Tom and Sonic have one that they listened to a lot on their roadtrip and now they sing along to it whenever it comes on. Maybe Sonic and Tails have a favorite song they feel describes their friendship perfectly and they learn all the words to sing as a duet. Maddie probably has a song she likes humming around the house and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckes all grow to love it because it’s the sound of safety and comfort. And they definitely all have a song they like singing all together.

Hey Darlin’!❤️✨

Oh! “Blackbird (1968)” is an interesting song choice. For those of you who don’t know, Blackbird pays homage to the civil rights movement occurring in the southern part of the United States from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Paul McCarthy wrote Blackbird after select (not all) schools in the south were lifting the ban of black students attending white schools. This resulted in numerous protests and riots. The song is meant to reflect those fighting for equality for black Americans, acknowledging racial discrimination, and supporting those brave enough to stand up and fight for change.

Blackbird is an interesting song choice for Shadow and Maria. Can you elaborate a little more on this idea? I’m very interested in hearing the connection between the two. I’m terribly sorry if this sounds snarky. I love the song as well and interested in hearing your thoughts a bit more. For me, I’ve associated “Rainbow Connection” from the Muppets as a Shadow and Maria song. It’s an interesting song that uses lots of rhetorical questions to ask why humans hope/dream, as well as why it’s brave to act on dreams.

I’m fairly certain that the Wachowski family has their own songs that they share with each other. I can definitely see them all bonding over different songs and genres.

[cookinguptales]

leap year tarot readings!

Okay!

I haven't done a tarot night in a while, so let's have fun together today!

For my new followers (or a refresher for old friends), here's the low-down. I am not psychic. I cannot tell the future. That said, I do love tarot cards. I won't get into the personal significance they hold for me right now, but I will say that I studied the history of tarot in college and collect decks now. (I have a lot!)

So now periodically I do tarot readings for people on tumblr. Just simple 3-card draws, but we have fun here. Again, I am not psychic. That said, I do believe that, since tarot is based on archetypes that apply to all people, all people can see some of themselves in a tarot spread. I can't tell your future, but if something in the spread brings up something you've been thinking about lately... well, maybe that's your brain telling you to think things through a little bit more.

I always relate tarot to that one saying: if you want to make a decision, flip a coin -- and then see which side you find yourself rooting for. I think tarot is similar in that, when we see a spread, we find ourselves subconsciously latching onto certain parts of it. And I do think it's wise to listen to your subconscious occasionally. A strong gut feeling shouldn't always be followed, but I do think it should always be explored.

Anyway! If you would like to request a tarot reading, here are some quick guidelines.

Please send me an ask that I can reply to. A lot of people like seeing the cards themselves, so I'll be posting all spreads publicly.

You can be anonymous, but if you are, please put an emoji or something so you can identify yourself. (And to keep my notifications at all navigable.)

I am going to be using both the Rainbow Connection Tarot and the 5-Cent Tarot this time. Please let me know which you'd prefer, and please keep in mind that the Muppets one is just the major arcana!

I am not psychic! So if you ask me a specific question, I will not be able to answer it! But if you'd like me to keep a topic in mind while doing my reading, I'll do my best.

I like to take my time with my readings and also take frequent breaks to pace myself. So please be patient with me.

This always seems to come up, so let me just be very clear! These readings are free. If you'd like to do something in return, I always like to ask you to pay it forward by just doing something nice for someone in the next few days.

Please don't talk yourself down when you send a request! No "sorry to bother you"s or "if it's okay for me to ask" or whatever. I do this because I enjoy it. You are taking nothing from me that I am not freely giving, and when I need to take breaks, I will do so. You are just as entitled to my time as anyone else in my inbox when I have specifically put aside time for y'all to claim.

Uhh... okay! One more thing! One of the times I did this recently, I posted what song I was listening to when I did your reading, and I thought that was a lot of fun. This time, though, why don't you choose a song? I'll listen to it while I do the reading. It can be your favorite song, or one that has to do with the vibe you want, or one that you're just really feeling today. Go wild! Just make sure that it is physically possible for me to find on the internet. lmao

Finally, as always, if you don't want to see all this, please block "#tarot shenanigans".

[rubykgrant]

Tagged by @grand-romantic to share 4 albums that I am currently fixating on… and this is hard, because I listen to the same stuff over and OVER, plus most of my CDs are movie soundtracks and mix CDs my best friend made me that are full of all the groups/artists that only have a couple songs I like. So, I cheated a bit, one group of CD albums in which I like basically all of the songs, so I can listen to the whole thing. Also, one group of CD albums from movies or shows that I also enjoy throughout!

First group (on the left); Gorillaz the Singles Collection (2001-2011). I liked the first bit I had seen of Gorillaz, way back in the day when the Clint Eastwood animated music video randomly aired with no context. Over the years I actually kept hearing various songs on the radio, but didn’t even realize how often it was Gorillaz! It wasn’t until I was in my 20s, and got to see more of the animated music videos, that I realized “Oh, they actually have a LOT of songs, and a LOT of talented music artists!”. I found the singles collection in a store when I was about 24, which happened to be all my favorite songs, so I got it! Fun fact- my mom actually really likes Gorillaz too, and she borrows this CD from me a lot

TLC Fanmail; This was one of the first CDs my family ever owned, initially bought specifically because me and my mom loved the song No Scrubs. Once we listened to the whole thing, we loved just about every song on here! We still listen to it in the car, and I put it in my player when I ride my bike a lot. My favorite is still No Scrubs, but Unpretty is a close second. Later, we also got Crazy Sexy Cool because we loved Waterfalls, and again enjoyed the rest of the songs as well. Fun fact- other other CD my family owned was Smash Mouth Astro Lounge, before we eventually had several dozen. These were ye olden days, and also my family is about 5 years behind tech anyway haha

The Beach Boys Sounds of Summer; I grew up listening to my parents’ cassette tapes, which contained what most people would call “oldies”, but that was just what we had! I knew darn near every one of the songs from the Beach Boys by the time I was 7, and my favorites are probably Get Round/California Girls/Wouldn’t It Be Nice. The only reason I have this CD at all was because when I was 14, I was left alone one evening, saw a commercial to order this album, called it, talked to a real person about how to pay for it, sent in my own money, and got the CD in the mail! My parents were very surprised, and maybe would have been worried about how easy it was for a 14 year old to do this, but were thankfully happy to listen to a Beach Boys CD (also, it was my own money, so I didn’t get in trouble). Fun fact- me and my mom went to a Beach Boys concert in 2019! We listened to this CD in the car on the way there. Then heard all the songs again at the event. Yes, we’re crazy like that

Zach Callison a Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak; one of the “newest” albums I own (still 5 years late to everything). One friend played this in the car, I liked how the songs sounded, got my own copy, let a different friend borrow it, and they liked it a lot, so I let them keep it and got myself a new copy! This is a good angst album, and I especially enjoy Interlude 4, that song will smack you right upside the head. Because I still share everything with my mom, she initially thought it was a “weird” CD, but then borrowed it for a 2 weeks, and now she likes it haha. Fun fact- when my mom was ordering her OWN copy, she kept mis-remembering the title as “Hollywood Homicide”, and got an entirely different search result. I had to help her find what she actually wanted on my computer

Next group (on the right); The Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack. I love the Muppets, I love a lot of the songs in Muppet movies, but the Christmas Carol one is ESPECIALLY good. I mean, these songs are beautiful. I’ll listen to it while riding my bike even when it isn’t close to the holiday. One little detail I like is the song Marley and Marley, because they used lines from the original book as lyrics, and it just works so well. Other detail, I didn’t appreciate the Love is Gone as a kid, because the scene itself moves kinda slow… but as an adult, it hits me really hard seeing Michael Caine singing along to the song he ignored as a young man, his emotions that he’s buried taking over in a subtle and heart-breaking way. Fun fact- I have this CD because one of my younger cousins gave it me as birthday gift!

Pokemon the First Movie soundtrack; I mean, Pokemon itself is a whole central point to my childhood, and seeing this movie in theaters as a kid was a BIG event. I love that maybe half the songs on here only kinda-sorta relate specifically to Pokemon in some way, and the rest are just various rock/pop/hip-hop songs, but each one is awesome! If Brother My Brother doesn’t make you FEEL THINGS, than I don’t even know what to say. Some of the songs on here are just plain cute, while others are intense. I’ve shared the music here with other people by playing it in a car, or on trips, and when they ask what CD this is, I get to see the confused look on their faces when I explain it is Pokemon album. Fun fact- before I got the CD, I had the cassette tape, and when I bought it, that accidentally came with an extra Pokemon poster!

The Prince of Egypt soundtrack; another movie that was amazing to see in theaters when I was very young. Like, that was an EXPERIENCE. It still holds up beautifully, and so do the songs! Sometimes I just listen to it on my headphones to relax, sometimes I listen and let my mind wander to emotional places… I also had a cassette for this, and really had to hunt it down to find a CD. For whatever reason, when I was first looking online, all the copies I found were just WAY too expensive. Then I randomly lucked out by finding it at a thrift store, and it wasn’t even all scratched up! I still have this CD, and still listen to it often. Fun fact- once when I was visiting family in Las Vegas, I was waiting in line for a ride at the Luxor, the only kid there, I started singing the Plagues song quietly to myself, and 5 other people joined in!

Phineas and Ferb soundtrack; These songs are ICONIC. They’re fun and joyful, and catchy as heck. I don’t care who you are, there is at least ONE Phineas and Ferb song that would get stuck in your head. In general, Busted might be my favorite, but I also love all the songs from Dude We’re Getting the Band back Together! This is a very good CD to imagine Scenarios to… all kinds of daydreams with characters and stories. I was also lucky to find this one, because on the store shelf the price listen was little high for what I had, but then I saw it was on sale! Fun fact- I’ve played this CD at family functions, and by skipping some of the “specific” songs, I triecked everybody into thinking it was a normal party CD haha

[eflen-n-reegee]

Heyya!

There are some things I want to write (specifically: another Field Museum field trip (featuring stuff I got to see on member’s night) and CG headcanons for Father from the show “Raised By Wolves” - he’s such a freaking good dad!) but I’m probably not gonna get those written until at least June. (I work in a school and I’ve got some end-of-year burnout keeping me from writing.)

But I’ve been feeling smallish, so I thought maybe I’d rave about some of my favorite childhood movies (in no particular order). :)

A Troll in Central Park I swear, every single time we went to Blockbuster, I wanted to rent this movie. I just adored it, and I really still do. It just makes me really happy.

Lady and the Tramp This is one of my favorite Disney movies. It’s so pretty, and I love the characters.

Cats (1998) Is it a “kids movie”? No. Did I understand the plot? Barely. But by gosh, I’d put on a leotard and paint whiskers on my face, and I would dance around the living room like I’d been raised to play one of the characters. 😸

The Rescuers Down Under I actually wasn’t allowed to watch this for most of my childhood because my mom felt like the bad guy was “too evil” - she tried to be careful about the things me and my siblings watched when we were really young. (Although, kinda funny, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was never restricted. 🤣) But I was able to watch it a few times, and I really liked it.

The Prince of Egypt The MUSIC! My gosh, even when I was too young to really appreciate the visuals, I knew the music was great.

The Muppet Christmas Carol We still watch this movie every Christmas. One year my dad was on the phone with my grandparents while we were watching, and he couldn’t stop laughing at “Jacob and Robert Marley”.

Pollyanna I don’t really know WHY I loved this movie so much - it’s so dialog-heavy and I had (and still kind of have) a pretty short attention span. Still, basically every time I was at my grandparents house I wanted to watch their copy of it.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks I guess some people say this movie was a “Mary Poppins” knockoff? Honestly, as much as I do enjoy “Mary Poppins”, I personally like this more. Maybe ‘cause I like witches.

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1997 English Dub) The characters! The story! The music! AAAAHHH! This is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and it bums me out so much that the 97’ version is so hard to find. (I may or may not have found it online and saved it to my computer so I’ll always have it. XD) I still have the VHS copy I got for Christmas when I was really little.

Homeward Bound & Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco Everytime I hear the theme music I feel giddy. I like the first one a little more, but they’re both such nice, feel-good movies.

The Lion King 2 - Simba’s Pride … I like this movie more than the first one. 😱😂 The original “Lion King” is great, but I just alway liked this one more. The colors, the songs, the characters (good gosh, Zira is one of my favorite villains ever, don’t even get me started). It’s just really good!

Oliver and Company As a kid this was probably one of my top five Disney movies. It’s not quite so high on the list now, but I still really love it.

Hap Palmer’s Baby Songs This is technically a series and not a “movie”, but this is my list so I’m gonna count it. 😆 They’re mostly original songs, they’re super catchy, and the accompanying videos are a lot of fun. Most of the songs are on Hap Palmer’s YouTube channel; I highly recommend checking it out. (Also: I did not grow up watching “Turn on the Music”, but it’s also really good.) 

The Ruby Princess Runs Away This movie is available on YouTube, but please tell me if you ever saw it as a kid - none of my friends had and I couldn’t believe it. This was one of my favorite movies and I watched it so much I can still recite segments of it; a few years ago my sister picked a random scene, played a few seconds, and I gave her the next lines of dialogue. That’s how wild I was about it. 🤣 It’s honestly not a great movie, pretty average and without much of a budget, but I still love it.

[dellb1969]

1975

I want to bounce back a bit here.

In early 1975 my little sister was born.

My mother said that at the time of her pregnancy we lived at her mothers house, my grandmother Clara. Mom said that the day my sister was born it was below zero, ‘it was so cold out that we didn’t want to leave the warm house.’ My sister was born in a small town 12 miles away, Webster.

I remember arriving at the hospital with my grandfather Elijah, but we couldn’t go in and see them just yet. I remember me and little brother Lawren climbing all over the hospital furniture and grandpa yelling at us to sit still. My mother goes on to tell the story that when the nurse held my sister up in the nursery window to my relatives, they thought that she held the wrong baby. They expected to see a little native girl with jet black hair, what they saw was a light skinned, bald headed child. Eventually my mother had to get out of bed and walk down to the nursery to point her out, she was the bald headed chunky child.

I was still five years old and soon to be six, what a whirlwind first six years of life.

In a matter of months our lives would forever change, we were no longer going to be just three boys, The Barse Wrecking Crew.

I sometimes wonder that because we were little boys if they thought that we were indestructible, more resilient? Maybe we were?

The energy in our lives shifted, there was an air of being more responsible, of ‘settling down and acting right.’

One thing for sure was that my parents were more present, especially my mom. We started to build a home, where ever we were. At this time we lived at grandma Violet and grandpa Jacks Old house. It wasn’t much longer after my sister was born that my dad’s dad passed away, my sister was just months old.

My parents seemed different, they looked at us differently. I could feel love and genuine caring about our well being. My mother really stepped up into her role, I’ve always thought that birth of my sister pushed her to be a better woman, a better mother.

In this old house we had no running water, a few yards into the field next to the house was a pump house and often it didn’t work and we would have to haul water for cooking and cleaning.

It was in this house that I started to become a protector. I was so enamored with my baby sister that I just wanted to cart her all over the place. I was so excited to see her that the bus ride home from school was just too long. I’d put her on the floor next to me as we watched cartoons, I was so protective of the soft spot on her head, which you could see because she was so bald. She was the chubbiest baby, ever. My little sister was adored by everyone no matter where we went, people just poured the attention on her beautiful face.

My all time favorite memory of her was watching her nap in her crib, The Muppet Show was really popular on tv at the time and she would get so excited when the theme song came on. I begged my parents for a Kermit the Frog stuffed animal and would place it in the crib with her while she napped.

My sisters birth was a godsend, in my heart of hearts I truly believe that.

[xbladekitkat85]

One of Us

Peter Parker x Fem!Reader

This is for @spider-starry's 1800 follower celebration! I hope you enjoy reading this and happy 1800 Carrie!

A/N: Bold is flashback and italics are thoughts. The different color font are song lyrics

It had been a month since Y/n asked Peter for a break.

Y/n was sitting on the couch in her living room watching old reruns of the Muppet Show. She wasn’t completely focused on what was happening in the show. She hadn’t been able to focus on anything really since last month. All y/n felt was a hollow sort of emptiness in her chest. She knew what was missing from her life but it wasn’t as easy to ignore as she thought it would be.

What was Peter doing right now?

The familiar sound of Statler and Waldorf heckling Fozzie faded to white noise as her mind shifted to memories of the previous month. When she told Peter they needed to take a break.

Y/n’s phone had rung while she was waiting for Peter to show up for their weekly movie night. She glanced at the clock before glancing at the caller ID. The familiar picture of Peter making a goofy face shone brightly at her in the dark living room.

He’s late again. She thought as she answered the call from Peter.

“Hey y/n, I’m so sorry, I’m about to head up the elevator. I’ll see you in less than 5 minutes!”

“Ok,” She replied “Uh, can we talk about something when you get here?”

Y/n was pretty sure her voice cracked in the middle of her sentence.

“Of course, as long as it’s not something like you started Back to The Future without me.” He joked.

Y/n felt her stomach drop as she tried to find words to respond with.

“I’m right outside the door now, so uh, I think we can probably hang up the phone now.”

“Yup, I’ll be there in a second.” She said, relieved to have a short period of time to gather her thoughts.

They both hung up and Y/n walked to the door. She took a deep breath and opened it for Peter, who was holding a bouquet of peonies, hyacinths and hydrangeas.

“I know I’m late for the 8th time, but I bought you some flowers from the stand outside your building as an apology. I know it doesn’t make all these late arrivals ok, but I figured you might like these.” He said sincerely. “I remember you said you liked hydrangeas but I had to google it because I couldn’t remember exactly what they looked like.”

Y/n felt sick to her stomach.

He had remembered what her favorite flowers were and gave her a very sincere apology. She knew he truly meant his apology and that made everything worse.

She didn’t realize she was crying until Peter’s expression changed to one of worry and he quickly set the flowers down and gently guided her to sit down at the table.

“Hey, you ok, what’s wrong?” He asked. “You wanted to talk about something, right? I’m here, and I’m listening.”

Y/n tried to take a deep breath but it was more of a gasp for air.

“Shh, it’s ok, take your time.” Peter soothed her. “Just talk when you’re ready.”

And so I dealt you the blow, one of us had to go.

“Peter, I think we need a break.” She said shakily.

She was scared to look at Peter’s face. Afraid of the heartbroken expression he would look at her with.

“I know that you love me and of course I love you so goddamn much, but I know you also love being Spiderman and how important it is to you.”

He took her hand gently and she finally looked at Peter’s eyes.

His eyes were filled with tears unshed but also a clear sign of understanding.

“I know that I haven’t been the best at being on time and that I sometimes have you stitch up my stab wounds or whatever.”

“Peter, I don’t mind stitching you up, your safety is important.”

“But I understand that it’s not the easiest thing to do, hell most people would balk at the idea. And… It’s ok if you want to take a break.”

His voice cracked a bit at the end.

“I will respect your wishes and I want you to know that I’ll be waiting for you if you do want to start over.”

Peter hugged y/n and softly kissed her cheek before grabbing his jacket and leaving the apartment, a thick tension in the air lingering after he was gone.

Peter had walked back to his apartment, the streets almost devoid of people. He didn’t completely acknowledge May asking what had happened and just mumbled that he was tired. He decided to take a shower and go to bed after. He sat at his desk for a moment before he finally let his tears fall freely.

Y/n took a few deep breaths and brushed her teeth before plugging her phone in to charge and laying down. She gazed at the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling, feeling like she had made the wrong decision, despite wanting this outcome in the first place. She already missed Peter and his warm, comforting hugs and wished that she could cuddle with him on his couch and watch movies. She wished she didn’t push him away and that he was still here with her.

Now it’s different, I want you to know.

One of us is crying, one of us is lying in her lonely bed.

Staring at the ceiling, wishing she were somewhere else instead.

Peter was wondering if y/n was ever going to say she wanted to try again. He had waited a week for her to call him. She hadn’t.

He didn’t worry about it too much. He knew that emotions are complicated and confusing. It was normal to take time to think about and process what you may be feeling. But after 3 weeks of waiting for something from y/n, and nothing happening, he started losing hope.

Maybe she didn’t want to stay in a relationship. Maybe she thought being friends was better for them. He felt like an idiot for being late for their movie nights so often. She only really asked that he show up consistently for those days and she could work around everything else that may happen with Spider duties. He felt like he could have done better. No, he should have done better.

He should have asked her twice if she was sure. He should have stayed to make sure she was going to be ok. He shouldn’t have left so soon after both of them felt such strong emotion.

One of us is lonely, one of us is only waiting for a call.

Sorry for himself, feeling stupid, feeling small.

Wishing he had never left at all.

Y/n felt conflicted. She had wanted to call Peter so many times over the past weeks but she kept on chickening out. She realized that she was an absolute idiot for asking Peter for a break. She had the most handsome, kindhearted, intelligent, yet kinda dorky guy in the world as her boyfriend and she had lost that. Y/n knew that there weren't many Peter Parkers in the world. She knew that she wanted to try again.

Sorry for herself, feeling stupid, feeling small.

Wishing she had never left at all.

Never left at all.

Y/n picked up her phone with determination. She called Peter and waited for him to answer. She hoped he would still pick up the phone for her.

“Hello?” A familiar voice asked hopefully.

She smiled fondly at his voice.

“Hi Peter.”

[tcm]

Paul Williams on His Regrets and Career By Donald Liebenson

“Bugsy Malone is like nothing else,” Roger Ebert wrote in his 1976 three-and-a-half-star review. “It's an original, a charming one.”

Alan Parker’s directorial debut, a one-of-a-kind gangster musical acted out by children (including Scott Baio in the title role and a then-13-year-old Jodie Foster as a sassy nightclub chanteuse), was an early career triumph for Paul Williams. Williams is everything that he wanted to be: an actor, an Oscar-winning songwriter of era-defining hits and composer of iconic movie scores. He’s something else, too: sober. Earlier this month he celebrated just over 30 years of sobriety. “When I got sober, the career I thought I had been gone for 10 years,” he says. “I feel like Lazarus; I’m 80-years-old, and I feel like a tired 34.”

But he’s ebullient talking about BUGSY MALONE, a cult favorite in the United States, but in its native England, it is something of a viewing rite of passage for children, thanks in part to a 1980s stage adaptation by Micky Dolenz. The film itself won four BAFTAs, including Best Screenplay and Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress for Foster. Williams was nominated for two Golden Globes, including Original Score and Original Song.

He has completed a new musical, Fortunate Sons, about how the Vietnam War draft lottery affects two households. His last major acting role was as ex-lawyer and informant JT on two seasons of the Amazon series, Goliath. “I’ve always said I’m a pretty good songwriter for an out-of-work actor,” he jokes. “Acting is where I got my start.”

Where in the process did you get involved with Bugsy Malone?  

Paul Williams: BUGSY MALONE began as a bedtime story Alan made up for his kids. Every night he put his kids to bed, they said, ‘Tell us more about Bugsy tomorrow night, dad.’ So maybe the answer to that question is that the headwaters of BUGSY MALONE is Alan’s love for his children and his great love for the traditional American gangster film. He found a place where those two things would meet in a way that was really unique.

How did Bugsy Malone come to you? 

PW: Alan Parker liked my songs, but I don’t know where he got the idea to approach me. It was around the time of A STAR IS BORN (for which he co-wrote the Oscar-winning song “Evergreen” with Barbra Streisand). He sent me a batch of beautiful color drawings of the cars, the splurge guns and the sets. Then he sent me the script, and I loved it. I was playing Vegas a lot and when I agreed to do it, he came over to talk to me. I was opening for Liza Minnelli or Olivia Newton John, I don’t remember who. Alan and I sat down at a deli, drank coffee and I was just singing bits and pieces of songs that I thought would be good ideas. I thought we needed to open with a song about Bugsy. It poured out of me. When the marriage is right, that seems to happen with me.

What was your own connection to American gangster movies? Were you a fan?

PW: Oh, my god, I was a huge Humphrey Bogart fan. One of the great times that I ever had was doing THE CHEAP DETECTIVE, because I was playing Elisha Cook’s role from THE MALTESE FALCON. As a little boy, I knew his name before I knew Santa Claus. I remember when I first came back to Hollywood to try and make it as an actor, one of the first things that happened was I walked into a drug store just as (character actor) Royal Dano was walking out. You’ve seen him in a hundred movies. I said, ‘Hiya, Mr. Dano,’ and he snapped his head around and said, ‘Hello, young man.’ I told that story on Carson, and I got a letter from Royal Dano. He said, ‘Although I don’t remember meeting you, it seems to me you were thinner then.’ I love that.

How did you approach writing the songs, because they are songs being lip-synced by children, but they are not children’s songs. 

PW: The script is the Bible. The two basic tasks a songwriter have are to move the story ahead and to display the inner life of the characters. Alan Parker was similar to Jim Henson in that the rule of writing was to not write down to kids, but to write accurately for character and story. The characters Alan wrote were so strong; they are archetypes of the great Warner Bros. characters. Bugsy was John Garfield meets Humphrey Bogart.

Where did the idea come from to have the child actors lip-sync to adult voices?

PW: They got kids that could act, they got kids that could dance, but the songs had intricate rhythms and to find kids who could sing them was a challenge. I thought that if the automobiles are these weird little hybrids that make the sound of an engine but are being pedaled, and the guns shoot cream, then why couldn’t the kids sing with adult voices? It would have the feel of an animated film. It solved the whole problem. The one regret I will have my entire life is that I put another (singing) voice in Jodie Foster’s mouth; one of the great actors in American film history.  That’s a terrible legacy (laughs). I did that with (the character) Beef in PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. I used a guy named Ray Kennedy who had a great beefy voice, but when I heard Gerritt Graham sing later, I thought maybe I should have given him a shot.

This was before your collaboration with Jim Henson and the Muppets. Was Bugsy Malone a project you personally wanted to take on as something your own children could see?

PW: Bugsy Malone is the one motion picture I’ve written songs for that I’ve seen more than anything that I ever worked on, and there’s a simple reason for it. When my wife and I broke up, I would spend the weekend with my kids and I would plunk them down in front of the TV with pizza and, god bless them, they must have seen BUGSY MALONE for years. Eventually, I learned how to talk to my kids and be a sober real dad, but my kids just love BUGSY.

The closing number, “You Give a Little Love,” is Bugsy Malone’s legacy song, much like “The Rainbow Connection” is for The Muppet Movie. It was even used in a Coca-Cola Super Bowl commercial.

PW: That song is pretty much my philosophy. I absolutely believe it. My entire life has proven to me that there is something about the elegance of kindness that has always had a solid return. The core philosophy of BUGSY MALONE is, ‘We could have been anything that we wanted to be/and it’s not too late to change.’

In America, Bugsy Malone received good reviews and is a cult favorite. But it’s huge in England. Why do you think it was so embraced there?

PW: We took it to the stage in the 1980s. Every kid in England, Wales and Ireland, but especially in Great Britain, grew up seeing BUGSY MALONE. It’s like GREASE in this country. Edgar Wright did BUGSY as a kid, which led me to a role in BABY DRIVER. 

Where do you rank Bugsy Malone in the Paul Williams canon?

PW: It is probably the best opportunity I ever had in this life to preach a little kindness. It’s probably the best opportunity I’ve ever been given to express the possibilities and probabilities that we could be anything we want to be. I was the runt of the litter from the Midwest; this little dude who didn’t fit into any world. I just absolutely loved music and movies and without thinking twice, I thought, ‘I’m going to do that.’ I hope BUGSY MALONE inspires that for anyone looking up at the screen and is attracted to the possibilities of telling the truth about themselves in a way that helps someone else.

Bugsy Malone is but one chapter in an incredible life and career. Have you given any thought to writing your autobiography? 

PW: You know what? In recovery we call it an inventory (laughs). I think I’m at a place in my life where I feel like a beginner, like I’m just getting started. I know how idiotic that sounds at 80, but I want three digits on my driver’s license, and I think the one thing that gives me a shot at that is that I love being busy and doing the things that matter most to me, and that’s trying to tell the truth in a way that helps someone else.

[watchathon]

Halloween Special: Muppets Haunted Mansion

...Y’know, I had a plan for what the Halloween Special would be this year. I had a plan as far back as the day I did last year’s Halloween Special. I was going to cover the scariest movie to be covered on this blog so far, a legitimate horror that would haunt my nightmares for who knows how long, and you would have all gotten to be entertained by my reaction to it. But then, Disney just had to ruin it, didn’t they? Disney just had to announce a special that I would have no choice but to cover. Disney just had to announce…

Muppets Haunted Mansion.

Muppets. Haunted Mansion. They announced a crossover between my favorite Disney-owned property and my favorite Disney Parks ride, both a brand-new Muppets special and a second attempt at adapting the Haunted Mansion, the only reason this isn’t literally straight out of my wildest dreams is because it never even occurred to me I could have both those things at once, and what was I supposed to do then? Wait until next year to cover it? 

No no no, my prior plans are what’ll be waiting until next year, because there’s not a chance that I’ll let this go by without gushing about it to all my followers!

Welcome, foolish mortals! I present to you my review of Muppets Haunted Mansion, a title that I still can’t believe I just typed!

This… was the best Muppets project since Muppets Most Wanted. Maybe even better than that. And certainly, it’s infinitely better than the last Haunted Mansion movie.

This special is clearly made with passion by people who not only love the Muppets, but also love the Haunted Mansion. There’s dialogue (specifically from the Ghost Host), scenes and even background music taken directly from the ride. While Grim Grinning Ghosts is unfortunately not present, a portion from it is used to end the song Rest in Peace. Heck, there’s even a reference to how the ride’s constantly-moving Omnimover system needs to stop whenever a disabled guest gets on, when Statler and Waldorf’s Doom Buggy stops in the middle of Life Hereafter with a “please remain seated” spiel very reminiscent of (perhaps even taken directly from?) the spiel from the ride.

Or, in an ingenious nod to both the ride and the original Muppet Show, the ride’s famous Grand Hall scene is combined with the recurring skit At the Dance from the Muppet Show.

Not to mention how Madame Pigota’s maid Kimmy is a cameo of Kim Irvine, prominent Imagineer and daughter of Leota Toombs Thomas, who was the face and namesake of the ride’s Madame Leota.

But it’s not just the loving nods towards my favorite Disney Parks ride that make me love this special. I raised an eyebrow when I heard on the Muppet History Podcast that Disney gave the crew a shorter runtime than they were hoping for because I thought it might result in a rushed pace, but on the contrary, this was paced perfectly. It never lingers too long on a scene, but those scenes still get room to breathe, and it’s not rushing from gag to gag like I feared it might.

And the writing is on par with the Muppets at their best. Call it recency bias, but I would honestly put this on par with stuff like Muppets Treasure Island and The Muppets (2011). Maybe not quite as good as The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Great Muppet Caper, but that would be a very high bar to clear.

It’s definitely superior to the previous Gonzo-focused movie, Muppets From Space. Not that that was a horrible movie, but it didn’t have quite as many great jokes as other Muppet movies do, and its portrayal of Gonzo as deeply insecure over his weirdness felt like a betrayal of a character who had previously seemed perfectly fine with being his bizarre self, even if there was nobody else quite like him.

Here, Gonzo is proud to be himself, openly enthusiastic about the spookiness of the Haunted Mansion, and while he is ultimately forced to admit that he isn’t as fearless as he likes to present himself as (under threat of being trapped in Room 999 for all eternity), he still comes away from the Mansion at the end of the movie having loved how terrifying it all was.

All in all, this was a great Muppet special, doubling as a great adaptation of the beloved Haunted Mansion. It was evidently made with passion by people who understand and love both those things, and know how to combine them perfectly. I’m definitely going to be watching this again tonight as I celebrate Halloween Night, and I could see myself making this a Halloween tradition of mine. 

...But there’s no dead body in the stretching room scene, so 0/10.

[gorgeousdan]

My thoughts on The Muppets Haunted Mansion (in no particular order):

- I love Gonzo, and maybe it’s because I had just watched the original Muppets movie, but I didn’t really enjoy his arch? I feel like we set up too late that Gonzo isn’t afraid of anything. And why didn’t he get a song?? I’m Going to Go Back There is one of my favorite Muppets songs and it’s about a Gonzo arch

- I don’t like when humans in Muppets specials sing without the Muppets. I’m here for puppets!!

- This is my first time seeing Matt Vogel perform in a longer thing as Kermit and honestly I got used to the voice. He’s still a little demonic for me but. I liked his singing voice. Maybe Kermit should just sing all his lines from now on.

- That being said, Kermit in that Piggy outfit will haunt me forever

- I didn’t like all the ghost Muppets being CGI. It felt less authentic to me. Put them in spooky lil robes or something

- The Bunsen and Beaker cameo!! It made me smile so wide. Why weren’t they in it more? I love Bunsen and Beaker! I would have watched an 8 hour movie of them just fucking around this place. Bunsen makes a ghostbusters style monster vacuum and vacuums Beaker’s head. Classic.

- They gave my autistic king Walter 1 line! You spent all this time making me fall in love with Walter in the Muppets (2011) and for what?? I will not STAND for this Walter slander. (Can you tell I love Walter?)

- I loved Pepe’s whole storyline. Being seduced by a witch who wanted to eat him? Classic. Finding out John Stamos is a demon? Hilarious. Everyone calling him Pepper?? 10/10

- Why did the dead magician want Gonzo to face his fears? Just for the audience? Did the magician die because he wasn’t afraid? I have so many lingering questions.

- Why wasn’t Piggy in it more?? Give me more Piggy :((

Overall I would give it a 5/10. Production was really nice, acting was great (we’ll give Matt a pass), but it lacked the soul of a Muppets production. And Walter. And Bunsen and Beaker and Piggy.

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Fred, Scrooge's nephew ("A Christmas Carol")

Tagged by anonymous.

Favorite thing about them: How friendly, joyful, and kind he is, and how he always reaches out to Scrooge and sympathizes with him despite being rejected, and wholeheartedly forgives and embraces him in the end.

Least favorite thing about them: Nothing in particular... Maybe the implication in Christmas Yet to Come that if Scrooge had never repented, even Fred would have left him to die alone and be buried in a grim neglected churchyard. But I suppose that (a) in that timeline, Fred might not even have been informed of his uncle's illness or death until it was too late to do anything, or (b) after so many years of being rejected, it's only human to finally give up. And at least it never happens, because Scrooge does repent.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I love Christmas.

*I enjoy parties.

*I try to be generous and kind to everyone.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not married.

*I'm female.

*All my uncles are loving and friendly.

Favorite line: There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!

brOTP: Topper and his other friends at the Christmas party, and Scrooge after his redemption.

OTP: His wife.

nOTP: Scrooge.

Random headcanon: His wife is pregnant during the main storyline – I've heard it suggested that Dickens meant to discreetly imply this when he wrote that she rested in a chair and footstool instead of joining in the blindman's-buff game at the party. Their baby will be a girl, named Frances after Fred's mother Fan, and Scrooge will be the most adoring great-uncle.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have one.

Song I associate with them: These two songs from the 1956 musical The Stingiest Man in Town, both sung by Johnny Desmond.

"An Old-Fashioned Christmas"

"The Birthday Party of the King"

Favorite pictures of them:

Robert Cochran in the 1935 film Scrooge (I wish I could find a better picture, though, because he's one of the handsomest Freds of all):

Barry MacKay in the 1938 MGM film:

Brian Worth in the 1951 film Scrooge:

Michael Medwin in the 1970 musical Scrooge:

Donald Duck in Mickey's Christmas Carol, 1983:

Roger Rees in the 1984 TV film, with George C. Scott and Caroline Langrishe:

Steven Mackintosh in The Muppet Christmas Carol, 1992:

Dominic West in the 1999 TV film:

Julian Ovenden in A Christmas Carol: The Musical, 2004:

Motion-captured Colin Firth in Disney's 2009 CGI film: