theprawncracker
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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Oh thi sis SO awesome!! I love it so much! And I'm anxiously awaiting the next update! Great job!
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Back to the Rock Season 2
Fraggle Rock Back to the Rock Season 2 has premiered on AppleTV+. Watch the anticipated new season and let us know your thoughts. -
Sesame Street Season 54
Sesame Street Season 54 has premiered on Max with new episodes each Thursday. Watch and let us know your thoughts. -
The Muppets Mayhem premieres
The series debut of the year is here! Let us know your thoughts and reviews of The Muppets Mayhem now streaming on Disney+. -
Bear arrives on Disney+
The beloved series has been off the air for the past 15 years. Now all four seasons are finally available for a whole new generation. -
Sam and Friends Book
Read our review of the long-awaited book, "Sam and Friends - The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show" by Muppet Historian Craig Shemin.
Family Ties
- Thread starter evilhopscotch
- Start date
evilhopscotch
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a'ight you guys, workin' on it now. Should be up by......whenever it's done.
Muffin away.
Muffin away.
evilhopscotch
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CHAPTER A-TWO!!! YAAAAAY!!!
-------------------
Morning dawned over the Sesame Street set, casting a peaceful orange glow onto the fake buildings and the various props already set out for the day’s filming. The birds chirped, the world woke, and everything seemed right with the world.
Not so backstage.
“I said I wanted a double mochachino with three scoops of sugar, dangit!!” A furry little red monster threw a Styrofoam at one of the poor interns, scaring her nearly to death. Yup, it was five a.m alright, thought a tired Ernie. He turned to look at the current drama, and caught Bert’s eye from his make-up desk, who gave him a knowing glance. This had become quite common ever since “Elmo’s World” got greenlighted, and the little monster’s ego had gotten bigger than he was.
“Dudes, I’m dead serious.” Grover was sitting right next to him, hands supporting the weary blue monster’s head, face twisted in a glowering scowl. “If Elmo doesn’t shut up, Grover will beat him senseless with a Honker. I swear to god, I’ll do it.”
Ernie just rolled his eyes. “Grover, just ignore him like the rest of us. He’ll get his eventually.”
“WHEN, Ernie?! I’m sick of waiting for him to fall off his high horse!!” Elmo, meanwhile, was now on the phone with his agent, working out the kinks of another proposed Elmo movie. “He’s finally living up to the name ‘Monster’, if you ask Grover.” He stuck his tongue out at Elmo. “Besides, that cute little innocent act was MINE before he even JOINED Sesame Street!!”
“Oh give it a rest already!!” Grover looked stunned at his outburst, and inwardly Ernie regretted snapping at him, but he didn’t let on. “Look, I’m sick of you two going at each other. It’s INCREDIBLY unprofessional.”
A tall shadow stopped in front of them, the owner of it lightly humming the theme song. That snapped both of them out of it for the time being. Big Bird smiled happily at them. “Hey you guys!” Ah, Big Bird. Ernie often thought that he was the last sane person on Sesame street, and he was often right. No one knew when the group had begun to splinter apart, but it had, and now the morning meetings were no longer warm, no longer fun, and no longer like a family gathering. No one told that to Big Bird, though. NO one told him that Grover and Elmo hated each other. No one told him anything anymore. Ignorance was bliss, after all, right?
And Big Bird WAS happy.
Not stupid, happy.
He got the distinct feeling that Big Bird knew something was up, but he didn’t dare ask him, just in case.
As the rest of the group filtered in, to partake in the complementary donuts, fruit and coffee before the day began, Ernie looked at all his coworkers and longtime friends and smiled lightly. The humans were bunched together as usual, going over most of the technical aspects of the show one last time, or chatting and laughing at one of Bob’s jokes. To the right of them, a squadron of Anything muppets were playing a game of “Guess my Face”, switching their noses and eyes and whatnot to try and impersonate different people, and having a great time. Lucky skunks.
More towards the back of the room, Oscar the grouch was washing his hands. Again. Ernie snickered. A very little known fact about Oscar was that off-camera, he was a severe germaphobe, but he was a marvel of professionalism. He could usually wash once or twice between takes, and he’d be fine for the day. Next to Oscar was Cookie Monster, who turned to Ernie and gave him a playful wink before walking over. “Do you enjoy watching everyone because you have nothing to do, sir Ernie?”, he said, in perfect English.
Ernie laughed. “Well maybe, but shouldn’t you be getting into character? You know, COOOKIE!!!, and whatever?”
His friend groaned. “Oh yes, of course.” Cookie cleared his throat. “ME WANT COOKIE, DAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!!” Glaring good-naturedly at him, Cooke said, “Well how was that?”
“Perfect!” Ernie put an arm around Cookie’s shoulders, and they both erupted into a fit of giggles.
Well, it was comforting to see some things stay the same….
----
“Alright, QUIET ON THE SET!!”
Gobo hopped from one foot to the other anxiously, giddy from anticipation. Their movie… A Fraggle movie…. It was finally HAPPENING! After years of waiting, planning, finding a director and fixing the script, they were finally working on it. He was so excited he couldn’t think straight. It was a struggle to keep from singing in jubilation, after all, Ahmet would kill him if he messed this scene up, but he was just too darn excited! And the others were, too.
Especially Boober.
That had surprised him. When he called Boober to tell him about the new movie getting the greenlight, he had heard Boober do something he never heard before.
Boober started yelling and laughing at the same time.
It was AMAZING how happy Boober had looked. Oh sure, he got into character better than many of the others, but as soon as the cameras were off, he started bouncing off the walls with joy! Red had been mildly disturbed by this change in attitude, but for the most part everyone loved the new Boober. It was fantastic to be with the old group again after so long. Gobo had forgotten just how much he loved the others.
It had been close to 30 years since they last worked together, but it was as if they’d never left. Red had settled down with some muppet she had met through her backstage work on Muppets Tonight, and they had lived together in Malibu the entire time. Wembly was now a fairly successful travel agent, and had traveled the world. Gobo hadn’t really done anything the whole time, just odd behind the scene jobs with the Creature Company, but that had been enough. It’s how he and Mokey had kept in touch, and had eventually expressed their love for each other. In the words of Boober: “TOOK ya long enough”. Yeah, it had been coming for a LONG time, but they did finally get married in spring of ’97. And Boober? Well, he’d gotten a few odd acting jobs here and there, but he had basically retired.
A loud pounding on the door startled everyone on set, and Gobo walked to the door. Before he could even ask who it was, Jen and Kira, the Gelflings, barged in with more than fifteen other weird Dark Crystal characters. They knocked him to the floor as they passed, and Gobo let out a groan, but they didn’t stop. “Alright, I want the Land Striders to help move out this Fraggle set,” Jen said through a bullhorn, “And Skeskies, don’t even think about eating any of them.” The Fraggles stood, gaping in horror, as the gigantic beasts started moving their set.
“Excuse me, but what’s the big idea!?” Red pushed her way through the crowd and glared at the two Gelflings, who were pouring over what appeared to be a blueprint.
Without looking up, Kira replied, “We got the greenlight to go. This is the only soundstage. We’re using it now.”
“We were in the middle of a take, you morons!!” Red’s face was turning the color of her hair, and Gobo stood by his friend, putting a hand on her shaking shoulder.
Kira looked at them with thinly-veiled disgust. “Listen you little vermin, we have been waiting a long time to do our sequel, and there’s no way we’re gonna let some mutated rats----“
That’s all she could get out before Red tackled her.
“Red, cut it out!!” Gobo tried in vain to pry the enraged Fraggle off of Kira, but she was determined to hang on. Kira cried out in pain and tried to strike back, while Jen tried to pull her away from the others, letting out a yelp when Red bit his hand. “Brian, help us!!”, he cried out, and that got the attention of the others. The Fraggles, their numbers greatly exceeding that of the Dark Crystal people, rose up and fought back. “That’s not what I meant!!”, Gobo yelled, in vain, as the battle for the soundstage wore on. His eyes found Mokey in the crowd, pushed against a wall and crying, and he ran towards her. “Mokey…Mokey, are you hurt?”
She looked at him tearily. “Only on the inside, Gobo.”
His heart broke.
“Alright, that’s ENOUGH!!” Ahmet and Brian had FINALLY walked in, and the chaos died down immediately. Brian scowled. “What’s the meaning of all this?! HUH?!” Gobo looked down in shame. “I cannot BELIEVE all of you. Seriously, fighting over who gets the soundstage?!” He looked at the Gelflings. They too were looking pretty ashamed of themselves. Brian walked over to Red and pulled her off of Kira, scowling. “It’s a big enough soundstage for the both of you, and if it’s not, there’s another one at the Creature Shop. What would my father say if he could see you right now?!”
Ouch. The worst possible insult you could give a Muppet.
All you need to do to break a Muppet’s heart is tell him that Jim would be ashamed of him.
Red ran off crying, closely followed by Wembly and Boober, the Dark Crystal cast filed out of the room solemnly, eyes downcast, and Mokey clung to Gobo tightly, still crying. He felt a little like crying himself. Mokey whispered, “Gobo… The Gelflings used to like us, but it’s not just them. Our family is falling apart.”
“Don’t say that, Mokey!” He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it didn’t work.
She shook her head. “We don’t care about any other group but our own anymore. We broke apart when h-he died, and NOW look at us. Fighting over a chance to be seen again? We should be HAPPY for the Gelflings!” Tears fell faster, and she shuddered. “Th-They should be happy for US!! We should be proud that the Muppets have a new series, but how many Fraggles even CARE?! What happened to our big happy family, Gobo?”
Gobo opened his mouth to try and comfort her, to tell her she was wrong and that everything was alright, but the words caught in his throat.
He hated to admit it, but she was right.
-------------------
Morning dawned over the Sesame Street set, casting a peaceful orange glow onto the fake buildings and the various props already set out for the day’s filming. The birds chirped, the world woke, and everything seemed right with the world.
Not so backstage.
“I said I wanted a double mochachino with three scoops of sugar, dangit!!” A furry little red monster threw a Styrofoam at one of the poor interns, scaring her nearly to death. Yup, it was five a.m alright, thought a tired Ernie. He turned to look at the current drama, and caught Bert’s eye from his make-up desk, who gave him a knowing glance. This had become quite common ever since “Elmo’s World” got greenlighted, and the little monster’s ego had gotten bigger than he was.
“Dudes, I’m dead serious.” Grover was sitting right next to him, hands supporting the weary blue monster’s head, face twisted in a glowering scowl. “If Elmo doesn’t shut up, Grover will beat him senseless with a Honker. I swear to god, I’ll do it.”
Ernie just rolled his eyes. “Grover, just ignore him like the rest of us. He’ll get his eventually.”
“WHEN, Ernie?! I’m sick of waiting for him to fall off his high horse!!” Elmo, meanwhile, was now on the phone with his agent, working out the kinks of another proposed Elmo movie. “He’s finally living up to the name ‘Monster’, if you ask Grover.” He stuck his tongue out at Elmo. “Besides, that cute little innocent act was MINE before he even JOINED Sesame Street!!”
“Oh give it a rest already!!” Grover looked stunned at his outburst, and inwardly Ernie regretted snapping at him, but he didn’t let on. “Look, I’m sick of you two going at each other. It’s INCREDIBLY unprofessional.”
A tall shadow stopped in front of them, the owner of it lightly humming the theme song. That snapped both of them out of it for the time being. Big Bird smiled happily at them. “Hey you guys!” Ah, Big Bird. Ernie often thought that he was the last sane person on Sesame street, and he was often right. No one knew when the group had begun to splinter apart, but it had, and now the morning meetings were no longer warm, no longer fun, and no longer like a family gathering. No one told that to Big Bird, though. NO one told him that Grover and Elmo hated each other. No one told him anything anymore. Ignorance was bliss, after all, right?
And Big Bird WAS happy.
Not stupid, happy.
He got the distinct feeling that Big Bird knew something was up, but he didn’t dare ask him, just in case.
As the rest of the group filtered in, to partake in the complementary donuts, fruit and coffee before the day began, Ernie looked at all his coworkers and longtime friends and smiled lightly. The humans were bunched together as usual, going over most of the technical aspects of the show one last time, or chatting and laughing at one of Bob’s jokes. To the right of them, a squadron of Anything muppets were playing a game of “Guess my Face”, switching their noses and eyes and whatnot to try and impersonate different people, and having a great time. Lucky skunks.
More towards the back of the room, Oscar the grouch was washing his hands. Again. Ernie snickered. A very little known fact about Oscar was that off-camera, he was a severe germaphobe, but he was a marvel of professionalism. He could usually wash once or twice between takes, and he’d be fine for the day. Next to Oscar was Cookie Monster, who turned to Ernie and gave him a playful wink before walking over. “Do you enjoy watching everyone because you have nothing to do, sir Ernie?”, he said, in perfect English.
Ernie laughed. “Well maybe, but shouldn’t you be getting into character? You know, COOOKIE!!!, and whatever?”
His friend groaned. “Oh yes, of course.” Cookie cleared his throat. “ME WANT COOKIE, DAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!!” Glaring good-naturedly at him, Cooke said, “Well how was that?”
“Perfect!” Ernie put an arm around Cookie’s shoulders, and they both erupted into a fit of giggles.
Well, it was comforting to see some things stay the same….
----
“Alright, QUIET ON THE SET!!”
Gobo hopped from one foot to the other anxiously, giddy from anticipation. Their movie… A Fraggle movie…. It was finally HAPPENING! After years of waiting, planning, finding a director and fixing the script, they were finally working on it. He was so excited he couldn’t think straight. It was a struggle to keep from singing in jubilation, after all, Ahmet would kill him if he messed this scene up, but he was just too darn excited! And the others were, too.
Especially Boober.
That had surprised him. When he called Boober to tell him about the new movie getting the greenlight, he had heard Boober do something he never heard before.
Boober started yelling and laughing at the same time.
It was AMAZING how happy Boober had looked. Oh sure, he got into character better than many of the others, but as soon as the cameras were off, he started bouncing off the walls with joy! Red had been mildly disturbed by this change in attitude, but for the most part everyone loved the new Boober. It was fantastic to be with the old group again after so long. Gobo had forgotten just how much he loved the others.
It had been close to 30 years since they last worked together, but it was as if they’d never left. Red had settled down with some muppet she had met through her backstage work on Muppets Tonight, and they had lived together in Malibu the entire time. Wembly was now a fairly successful travel agent, and had traveled the world. Gobo hadn’t really done anything the whole time, just odd behind the scene jobs with the Creature Company, but that had been enough. It’s how he and Mokey had kept in touch, and had eventually expressed their love for each other. In the words of Boober: “TOOK ya long enough”. Yeah, it had been coming for a LONG time, but they did finally get married in spring of ’97. And Boober? Well, he’d gotten a few odd acting jobs here and there, but he had basically retired.
A loud pounding on the door startled everyone on set, and Gobo walked to the door. Before he could even ask who it was, Jen and Kira, the Gelflings, barged in with more than fifteen other weird Dark Crystal characters. They knocked him to the floor as they passed, and Gobo let out a groan, but they didn’t stop. “Alright, I want the Land Striders to help move out this Fraggle set,” Jen said through a bullhorn, “And Skeskies, don’t even think about eating any of them.” The Fraggles stood, gaping in horror, as the gigantic beasts started moving their set.
“Excuse me, but what’s the big idea!?” Red pushed her way through the crowd and glared at the two Gelflings, who were pouring over what appeared to be a blueprint.
Without looking up, Kira replied, “We got the greenlight to go. This is the only soundstage. We’re using it now.”
“We were in the middle of a take, you morons!!” Red’s face was turning the color of her hair, and Gobo stood by his friend, putting a hand on her shaking shoulder.
Kira looked at them with thinly-veiled disgust. “Listen you little vermin, we have been waiting a long time to do our sequel, and there’s no way we’re gonna let some mutated rats----“
That’s all she could get out before Red tackled her.
“Red, cut it out!!” Gobo tried in vain to pry the enraged Fraggle off of Kira, but she was determined to hang on. Kira cried out in pain and tried to strike back, while Jen tried to pull her away from the others, letting out a yelp when Red bit his hand. “Brian, help us!!”, he cried out, and that got the attention of the others. The Fraggles, their numbers greatly exceeding that of the Dark Crystal people, rose up and fought back. “That’s not what I meant!!”, Gobo yelled, in vain, as the battle for the soundstage wore on. His eyes found Mokey in the crowd, pushed against a wall and crying, and he ran towards her. “Mokey…Mokey, are you hurt?”
She looked at him tearily. “Only on the inside, Gobo.”
His heart broke.
“Alright, that’s ENOUGH!!” Ahmet and Brian had FINALLY walked in, and the chaos died down immediately. Brian scowled. “What’s the meaning of all this?! HUH?!” Gobo looked down in shame. “I cannot BELIEVE all of you. Seriously, fighting over who gets the soundstage?!” He looked at the Gelflings. They too were looking pretty ashamed of themselves. Brian walked over to Red and pulled her off of Kira, scowling. “It’s a big enough soundstage for the both of you, and if it’s not, there’s another one at the Creature Shop. What would my father say if he could see you right now?!”
Ouch. The worst possible insult you could give a Muppet.
All you need to do to break a Muppet’s heart is tell him that Jim would be ashamed of him.
Red ran off crying, closely followed by Wembly and Boober, the Dark Crystal cast filed out of the room solemnly, eyes downcast, and Mokey clung to Gobo tightly, still crying. He felt a little like crying himself. Mokey whispered, “Gobo… The Gelflings used to like us, but it’s not just them. Our family is falling apart.”
“Don’t say that, Mokey!” He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it didn’t work.
She shook her head. “We don’t care about any other group but our own anymore. We broke apart when h-he died, and NOW look at us. Fighting over a chance to be seen again? We should be HAPPY for the Gelflings!” Tears fell faster, and she shuddered. “Th-They should be happy for US!! We should be proud that the Muppets have a new series, but how many Fraggles even CARE?! What happened to our big happy family, Gobo?”
Gobo opened his mouth to try and comfort her, to tell her she was wrong and that everything was alright, but the words caught in his throat.
He hated to admit it, but she was right.
redBoobergurl
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WOW!!! This is such an interesting take on everything! It's wonderful! I'm enjoying reading this so much and I look forward to what's next!
theprawncracker
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...Wow... That's so... powerful... and lovely. Poor Grover... and Ernie... I liked all the adults laughing at Bob's jokes... and Boober and Cookie Monster and Oscar off camera. But I especially liked this:
Ouch is right... dunno if I'm more mad at Brian for saying that to Red... or Red for making it true. Great story! More please!evilhopscotch said:
TogetherAgain
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..............Wow...........
MORE PLEASE!
MORE PLEASE!
evilhopscotch
Well-Known Member
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Aww, be nice you two 
Thank you all so much for the good feedback!!
Thank you all so much for the good feedback!!