#jim henson's secret plan

[outtacontextlitwtc]

Tom Waits (speaking through Will): Did you put these bones in my basement, me?

Tom Waits (speaking through Chris): Did you put these bones in my basement, me??

[repeated 5 times each direction, getting progressively deeper and more broken Tom Waits voices]

-Jim Henson's Secret Plan (also this was at 54:40, people are pretty cool for putting timestamps down :3)

.

#tom waits #chris dunne #will wood #jim henson's secret plan #54:40 #litwtc #life in the world to come

[ericaportfolio]

My Friendly Neighborhood Review

Hey Kids! Do you want a mascot horror game that's actually good? Do you want to shoot and watch puppets fly across the room in funny ways? Or do you want to play a game that breaks you to the point of ugly crying due to the messages about selfishness versus selflessness, the trauma of war, grief, depression, death, and depending on which ending you decide, make you feel miserable or hopeful? (Boy, what I wrote there got dark!) Then you should play My Friendly Neighborhood!!!

July 8, 1993, in a very unfriendly city where the citizens that were emotionally affected by the war that lasted for twenty years by watching it from their TV sets (An in-universe version of the Vietnam War in this game), an old studio's antenna starts up playing a canceled kids show that's the in-universe version of Sesame Street, My Friendly Neighborhood, over the news. You play as repair crewman Gordon O'Brian was forcibly sent by his employer, Sprocket Palm Property Management, and their clients, City Network Broadcasting Group, to shut down the antenna at the top of the abandoned studio's hotel. Failure to do so, Gordon, due to his terrible, mean, and rude behavior, would result in getting fired. Upon getting there, SURPRISE, The Puppets Are Alive That A Lot Of Them Want To Hug You To Death!!! Along the way, Ricky the Sock Puppet guides Gordon throughout the studio trying to convince him not to disconnect the antenna. Can Gordon survive the night at the studio as he tries to find a way up to the antenna? Or will Gordon be trapped in the studio forever?

Pros... There's a lot! I can list them all day! The game is a love letter to tv shows and movies made by the Jim Henson Company over the years. The shows and movies had different names to prevent copyright claims in the game's universe. The cute factor is that you'll get attached to Ricky the Sock Puppet. He's like if Scout Prime from Hello Puppets was similar to Kermit the Frog and doesn't curse. If you're thinking, wait Hello Puppets already did possess murder puppets, that seems repetitive! Actually, the puppets aren't possessed. I'm wondering if the creators are saving a twist for another game. (Please let it be Gordon, Ricky, and the Neighborhood characters versus the villains from the in-universe The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth movies after they fell for a trap they thought was a movie deal!) I won't dive into details in this review. Let's say you have to think on your own about what's really happening here. I think for a horror game to do that was refreshing. What you might have fun with in this game is the clever ideas and designs of the weapons you find, the Rolodex and the Novelist being two of them, and the puzzles you come across along the way. However, the best part of the game has to be the writing since it takes a survival horror game and turns it into a dark comedy that would make Mel Brooks proud. If you're a completionist and you finish the game, don't leave! There's More! There are 'secret tapes' scattered around the studio, and once you finish the game, they will unlock cheats and mods to create some interesting experiences the next time you play.

There aren't many cons to this game. Something was happening with the maps, but that was fixed, thankfully. If I have some things I have to nitpick, first, this game has a lot of backtracking to other levels that many would find annoying. However, you'll make discoveries along the way. Just get ready if the previous levels you have been through get harder as more puppets appear. Second, you need to be ready to conserve your ammunition. Once it's gone and used, it's GONE, and your left with the wrench. So plan ahead, or you're dead in the finale! For beginners, this game may take hours or days to beat unless you got the patience to win. As the game continues, some of the puzzles will get harder and leave you scratching your head for a while. There have also been some complaints that the game should be considered a horror game at times, even though there are terrifying moments. Especially in the climax and ending that would leave you shaking unless you wished for more from that. So the cute factor in the game may turn off some who want something darker than this. Yet, if you read carefully the files you collect, you'll discover where the true darkness lurks in this game.

I may need to warn you of potential spoilers to some trigger warnings of war, depression, and references to taking away your own life. In a game about fighting murder puppets, the game does a shockingly good job tackling war trauma not just for the victims and soldiers but also for the citizens back on the homefront, where many viewed the soldiers as villains and getting exposed to the war on their home televisions. Because of that, the citizens in the city were traumatized and depressed by it. Even one worker at the studio wrote about "going into the light". I got a theory as to what happened to them. Something I noticed at the beginning makes sense now when reading those notes.

So there are multiple endings in the game. One is the true ending. Whichever ending you get, get your tissues ready. You might cry ugly tears of joy. Overall, spending money on this game is worth it! Even if you don't have the money, watch your favorite Gaming YouTubers and watch the game as a movie experience. It's not perfect, but it's rightfully up there, along with that antenna. This game may not be for everyone, but if you're a fan of Resident Evil (which I should start watching more gameplay of the game series if able, to be honest), you grew up with Sesame Street and the Muppets, you're a big Jim Henson Company nerd, you like puppets, you're a fan of Hello Puppets and Welcome Home, and you love film noir, this game is for you. So get it while it's still on sale, grab a buddy or two, and get learning in your favorite friendly neighborhood!

I would give this game a 9/10 for Ricky being adorable and Gordon getting some needed sleep.

#my friendly neighborhood #mfn #my friendly neighborhood gordon #mfn gordon #my friendly neighborhood ricky #mfn ricky #my friendly neighborhood norman #mfn norman #mfn junebug

[cerinelle-stellarium]

So you want to check out My Friendly Neighborhood

This post will be divided into several sections for posterity.

Story

July 8, 1993. A grumpy repairman by the name of Gordon O'Brian is sent to a long abandoned TV studio that produced the titular canceled children's puppet show to power down the antenna that suddenly came back on to broadcast My Friendly Neighborhood the previous evening. When he enters the Hotel in which the antenna is set atop of, he's greeted by the face of the MFN franchise, Ricky the Sock who upon learning of what Gordon plans to do, attempts to dissuade the human from ending the continued airing of the series. From there, Gordon embarks on a strange journey through the production's grounds and prehaps a chance to properly confront and rediscover what it means to be a good person.

What makes MFN so good?

Zero blood, gore or heavy violence. Aside from several minor jumpscares during the first third of the game and a more typical horror focused section that occurs after completing the main objective) that lasts for just 5-10 minutes), the game is a good fit for those adverse to heavy amounts of brutal content in their media or new to survival horror.

A well written story that treats its' themes of trauma, war related fallout and observations of the human condition in the face of these with genuine nuance, maturity and respect.

A colorful cast of characters residing in a storied world with distinct level and character designs

Secret cheat tapes hidden through the various locations in the game for creative replayability value!

A homage/love letter to both Jim Henson's works and the Resident Evil

`Additional details

All the 'enemies' (as to why I refer to them as such, you'll have to play MFN to properly understand what I'm getting at and that's only until you get to the aforementioned horror focused section) are non-deformed cutesy puppets. There's 5 main generics (Norman, Lenard, Junebug, Liliana and George) and 5 unique mains (Pearl, Ray, Gobblette, The Pups and Arnold). 2 of the unique ones are non-hostile with the Pups, as their name indicates, are puppet dogs who only get stunned by weapons for a few seconds before getting back up unless you find a way to pacify them by getting them dog food

MFN is one of the few pieces of media to properly examine and deconstruct its main genre in a genuinely compelling way; specifically the Mascot Horror category of games, by taking traits and conventions seen in MH and really look at them through a more realistic/down to earth way that makes sense with its' themes, even in a world where sentient puppets are a norm

Multiple endings that depend on exploration of the game's world and should the player choose to help certain NPCs wFith special items.

#my friendly neighborhood #ceri posts stuff

[nostalgiamare]

NOSTALGIAMARE ENTRY 30

NAME: THE ADVENTURES OF ELMO IN GROUCHLAND

COMPANY/FRANCHISE: COLUMBIA PICTURES

THE JIM HENSON COMPANY

SESAME WORKSHOP

SESAME STREET

CATEGORY: MOVIE (THEATRICAL)

YEAR: 1999

DESCRIPTION: Sesame Street's second theatrical movie starring popular Sesame Street Muppet Elmo. After Elmo and Zoe have a huge argument over Elmo's favourite blanket, Oscar and his trash suddenly get to it first and take it to his home. When Elmo tries to get it back, he is taken on an odd adventure down a secret town for Grouches and gets to learn more about Oscar but what a Grouch life truly is. But not everything goes to plan when a scheming and greedy thief named Huxley gets his hands on Elmo's blanket and ensures that it's his instead. Now Elmo must go across Grouchland all the way to Huxley's domain to get it back. But not before needing to realise the importance of sharing and being thoughtful to others, which could be the key to rekindling his and Zoe's friendship.

MOD THOUGHTS

1: This song should NOT go as hard as it does for a preschool movie but I guess when you have Sesame Street composers and villain songs go hand in hand you WILL get a bop.

2: I guess it's no wonder why after this Zoe kept her grip on Rocko Elmo was so hard on her that she made sure that despite them reconciling in the end she would get payback lmao.

3: Precious...

LINK TO SOURCE: https://www.sesamestreetguide.com/2021/09/elmo.html

#nostalgia #childhood nostalgia #nostalgiacore #90s nostalgia #nostalgiamare #nostalgiamare entries #sesame street #jim henson #muppets

[genericlitwtcsideblog]

Title Meanings:

What is going on

Banana Boat Paradise

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson is Jim Henson's masterpiece, his finest muppet

#litwtc #life in the world to come #will wood #chris dunne #litwtc bracket

[turtlethon]

Turtlethon Extra Slices: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III"

US Release Date: March 19, 1993 UK Release Date: August 6, 1993 

Following a two-year break, the Turtles returned to cinemas for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, the concluding chapter of their original live action movie run. With Turtlemania entering its downswing at the commencement of this project, producers Golden Harvest approached it as one last play to win over what they expected to be a declining audience and budgeted accordingly. Stuart Gillard was the director of this sequel.

Japan, 1603: A man is pursued on horseback by a group of armoured warriors. We’ll get back to him. In 1990s New York, the Turtles cavort during a training exercise to the mid-eighties ZZ Top track “Can’t Stop Rockin’”. If the second film’s saving grace was the continued advancement of the animatronics used to bring the team to life, it immediately becomes clear that all of that has gone out the window now: Jim Henson’s Creature Shop has been replaced for this outing by the All Effects Company, the life-like Turtles we once knew exchanged with bug-eyed, rubbery, downright unpleasant looking substitutes. Their synchronised dance antics go on for a painful amount of time until Raphael, frustrated by engaging in what he views as pointless training exercises while the team remain holed up in their subway hideout, hurls a sai at a hi-fi speaker. April – played here by Paige Turco, returning from The Secret of the Ooze – arrives bearing gifts, providing the Turtles with an opportunity to clown around some more. One of the items she’s brought is an antique Japanese sceptre, intended for Splinter. 

We return to the captured individual from the opening, Kenshin (Eidan Hanzei), who’s reunited with his father, the villainous Lord Norinaga (Sab Shimono). The young man is reminded that he’s forbidden to leave their castle, but protests his dad’s ongoing civil war against a group of neighbouring villagers. Their argument is interrupted by the arrival of Walker (Stuart Wilson), an Englishman flanked by a crew of rogues who forge an arrangement to provide Norinaga with ammunition, initially in exchange for rice, though it’s the Lord’s gold and silver that’s truly sought after. 

Following Walker’s departure, Kenshin is seen driving a group of priests out of a temple. He examines a scroll on which four kappa are illustrated – resembling the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – as well as a sceptre, the same one recovered by April in the future. In a flash of light, April and Kenshin are switched into each other’s places, even swapping clothes. As the Turtles struggle to make sense of what has just happened, April is approached by the hostile guards in the palace, who assume her to be a witch who has captured Kenshin, a situation exacerbated by her personal stereo accidentally playing the sound of “Conga” by the Barrio Boyzz to the bafflement of everyone looking on. She decides to play into this, telling Walker that she could “melt him into a puddle of puke” if she wanted to. This psych game turns out to be unsuccessful, and April is taken prisoner to be interrogated about Kenshin’s whereabouts. 

The Turtles hatch a plan to use the sceptre to head into the past and bring back April, but determine that in doing so it’ll require a temporal exchange with four people in ancient Japan of equivalent mass to themselves. To keep an eye on things while they’re away they bring in Casey Jones (Elias Koteas), returning from the 1990 film after sitting out TMNT II for being too darn violent. Michaelangelo adopts a pair of pyjama bottoms so that his counterpart won’t be naked after the exchange is made.

Arriving in ancient Japan, the Turtles find themselves in the place of a group of Honor Guards on horseback in the middle of a battle, struggling to find their bearings and ultimately landing in a ditch. Along the way Michaelangelo, wielding the scepter, is separated from the group. Mistaken first for being one of Norinaga’s men and then for a kappa, Mikey is knocked out and recovered by Princess Mitsu, who's leading the fight against Norinaga and Walker. She orders that Michaelangelo be carted off to recover in the village. 

Norinaga boasts to Walker about the superiority of his Honor Guard to any weapon and becomes enraged upon learning that they’ve vanished, alongside the sceptre. Meanwhile Leo, Donnie and Raph infiltrate the palace. After freeing April from her cage, the reunited group escape via a chute that ejects them out the side of the castle into another ditch outside. 

As the children of the village spot Michaelangelo without his helmet and are horrified by the sight of what they assume to be a kappa, the other Turtles and April adjust to their new surroundings, with Raphael noting how idyllic feudal Japan is versus the chaos and pollution of 1990s New York. The group are attacked by villagers assuming them to be aligned with Norinaga, and stop the fight by removing their masks to reveal their true identities. Mitsu puts two and two together and assumes they must be allies of Michaelangelo. 

The Turtles are celebrated as heroes by the villagers, and are asked by Mitsu to stay and help them fight back against the daimyo (a term for feudal lords of the period, referring here to Norinaga). Our heroes stress that they need to reclaim the sceptre before their opportunity to return to their own time is gone, but until then they agree to assist. 

Norinaga reveals the contents of his scroll to Walker, asking about the resemblance of the visitors to the four kappa depicted on it. The daimyo recalls how old priests told him his ancestors were defeated by these demons, who he believes have returned to confront him: to stop them, he agrees to Walker’s earlier offer, now willing to provide him with silver and silk in exchange for guns. Walker has upped his price due to the severity of the situation, now insistent on being provided with gold for his goods, angering the feudal lord. 

The Turtles scour the area on horseback in search of the sceptre, but without success. Later, they inform a mortified April of their new plan, which involves building an entirely new sceptre. This task won’t be handled by Donatello, but instead by a local blacksmith. In the downtime that follows, the Turtles grow closer to the villagers, with Michaelangelo working alongside a cook in an unsuccessful attempt to invent pizza while also developing an attraction to Mitsu. Meanwhile, Raphael forms a friendship with Yoshi, discouraging him from fighting other kids and teaching him the importance of controlling his temper. 

Checking in with events in New York, we see Casey and Splinter attempt to calm an increasingly on-edge Kenshin, who demands to be given the sceptre so he can be reunited with Mitsu. Casey cooks up a distraction by switching on a nearby TV, the assembled time-travellers mesmerised by the sight of an ice hockey game being broadcast. 

At Kumano Castle, Norinaga agrees to Walker’s terms, with the Englishman declaring that as the dungeon is becoming crowded his men will instead kill their enemies. Back in the village, the Turtles assemble around the new makeshift sceptre, but while arguing amongst themselves manage to drop the fragile item, causing it to shatter. Now left with no time to construct another before their window to return to the future closes, the Turtles are informed by Mitsu that Norinaga’s men will arrive in the morning, now heavily armed. 

Raphael checks in with Yoshi, offering him a gift of a yo-yo. The youngster is burdened by the knowledge that tomorrow the Turtles could die in battle but is assured that everything will be alright. To prevent Raph from being lost in the oncoming clash, Yoshi offers his friend an item he recovered in the forest: the original scepter. It dawns on the Turtles that Mitsu ordered it to be stashed under their home to deter them from leaving, placing them in a position where they’d have to stay and help defend the village. Yoshi’s grandfather reveals he was the one who stashed the sceptre, not Mitsu. Before they can patch things up, the Princess is captured by an ex-member of Walker’s crew named Whit (played by Elias Koteas in a dual role in addition to Casey), who challenges the Turtles to bring Kenshin to the castle in exchange for her return. 

Mitsu is offered up to Norinaga and accused of stealing the daimyo’s son. She counters by declaring Kenshin is “on a magic journey” and can only be brought back using the sceptre, which she announces is in Walker’s possession. The Englishman denies this is the case, and is allowed to leave. Later, he meets up with Whit, who accuses him of having kept the knowledge of the contents of the scroll a secret. 

The Turtles infiltrate the castle for a second time and free Mitsu, before leaving again intent on meeting up with April. Along the way, the team discover the scroll prior to being confronted by Norinaga. The feudal lord is about to finish off the Turtles himself until Mitsu intervenes, with Michaelangelo making the save to stop her being hurt. Mikey is cut in the fight, a sign that Norinaga takes as confirmation the Turtles aren’t demons after all, but rather mere mortals. 

Our heroes take on Norinaga’s men, ultimately emerging victorious. The green teens watch as the damiyo makes a bungled attempt to escape on horseback. He soon finds himself face to face with Leonardo and asks to be finished off. Rather than killing his enemy, Leo cuts off a portion of his hair before trapping him under an enormous bell. Still more challenges emerge for the Turtles as Walker has captured April. She reunites with the team as they face the prospect of being assassinated by a crew of heavily armed Englishmen, to Whit’s horror. 

Walker is psyched out by the Turtles, who goad him into shooting them himself, insistent that he won’t do it as he’s afraid of being haunted by demons down the line should he be the one pulling the trigger. Enraged, the villain fires a cannonball which Leonardo dodges by retracting his head. The sight of this shocks Walker and his men, providing the Turtles with an opportunity to disarm their enemies. 

The Turtles split up to corner Walker, surrounding him on the roof of the castle. He tosses the sceptre, using the distraction as an opportunity to mount an escape while Michaelangelo narrowly manages to catch it, but a fireball launched via catapult by Whit destroys his rope, sending him plunging into the sea to his certain demise. 

As Casey tries to round up the Honor Guards ahead of the time exchange – who have now ventured outside to enjoy the sights and sounds of New York, such as uh... the 1985 Italo-disco hit “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora? - the Turtles begin to have disagreements about whether they even want to return to their own time at all, with Donatello and April missing their modern conveniences, while Raphael and Michaelangelo feel strongly about remaining in 1603. The situation becomes urgent as Kenshin’s patience runs out and he activates the sceptre ahead of the Honor Guards returning. Finally, the Turtles agree to go back, but Mikey is separated from the group in the moments before the teleport begins. 

Arriving back in their home, the Turtles and Splinter are shocked to discover Michaelangelo didn’t return, the remaining member of the Honor Guard panicking and attempting to escape with the sceptre. Moments later he vanishes as well, Michaelangelo emerging to reunite with his brothers. Back in ancient Japan, Kenshin is reunited with Mitsu, the two embracing as mood lighting kicks in. 

Michaelangelo is saddened by having had to make the difficult decision to leave Mitsu in the past, but is cheered up by Splinter placing a lampshade on his head and talking about the Elvis Presley movie “Blue Hawaii”, something Mikey himself did at the beginning of the movie. We end the same way we kicked things off as the Turtles perform another synchronised dance, this time to Technotronic and Ya Kid K’s “Rockin’ Over the Beat”. 

While the first TMNT movie is widely celebrated and the perception of the second could be considered mixed, there’s no getting around the fact that the third is generally viewed as a stinker, one of several Turtles project from this period that nearly everyone now agrees to be a mistake alongside “We Wish You a Turtle Christmas”, “Turtle Tunes” and everything connected to the “Coming Out of Their Shells” tour. The simple fact of the matter is that a movie in which the Turtles interact with a bunch of new characters in ancient Japan wasn’t what the remaining kids who made up the bulk of TMNT’s fanbase wanted in 1993. It’s tempting to imagine a third Turtles film which throws everything and the kitchen sink in as a course correction after The Secret of the Ooze went out of its way to avoid introducing Rocksteady and Bebop: maybe this time we could have both mutants make their belated debut alongside Krang, the Technodrome, and a bunch of other recognisable elements drawn from the cartoon, the comics and even the toy line to win an increasingly jaded audience back. Such a film would have been an ambitious project that would have required an adequate budget and the craftsmanship of the Creature Shop, but what we got instead was an adventure with a relatively modest scope, created with the expectation that it would generate minimal returns, and it shows. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. 

Okay, okay, but... hear me out. Yes, TMNT III is a disappointment, but I don’t think it’s entirely irredeemable. Like season seven of the cartoon, which aired later in the same year, this outing benefits from the fact that by 1993 the moral panic surrounding the Turtles had largely died down, parental groups and the press moving on to condemn Night Trap and Mortal Kombat instead. With no-one paying attention, this time around we get a film where the Turtles fight a lot, even if the use of their trademark weapons remains only nominal. I assume the production got away with this, in part, due to the action scenes representing historical violence. As a result at least we get to see the Turtles cut loose in a way that we maybe wouldn’t have had the film instead involved them fighting in their home turf of New York. (As with the first two outings, scenes involving the use of Michaelangelo’s nunchucks were cut for the initial UK release, and just like those earlier films the excised content was restored beginning with the DVD release in the early 2000s.) 

There are other elements to appreciate about TMNT III beyond the emphasis on action. While the Turtles fire off one-liners and pop culture references here to the point where it can become grating, they’re also afforded moments to reflect and consider the differences of the era they’ve found themselves in to their own. Michaelangelo and Raphael’s arcs, in which they form connections with Mitsu and Yoshi respectively, allow both to demonstrate their ongoing personal growth; there’s a sense that both return to New York with a newfound maturity they didn’t have when they left. 

In the Turtlethon entries for the first and second movies I neglected to mention that both received comic adaptations, published by Archie. The same is true again here, the comic version of TMNT III belatedly published in November 1993, closer to the film’s arrival on home video than it was to its cinematic run. Dean Clarrain and Chris Allan from the then-ongoing TMNT Adventures series adapted the story for print and did an incredible job: in fact, unless you’re particularly hung up on experiencing Turtles III as a movie, I’d go so far as to say you should just read the Archie version instead. The shoddy Turtle designs that encumber the story on celluloid here are transformed into wonderful, engaging characters, and their quips are by necessity pared down to fit into sixty pages. Writing this entry would have been a far greater chore for me if the Archie adaptation didn’t exist to provide me with a different perspective on it. 

Well readers, it’s come to this. Together, over the last two years, we’ve meticulously dissected three films and a staggering 184 animated episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, reflecting on the highs, the lows, and the many moments that were downright inexplicable. Now, a mere eight episodes remain. We’ll start checking them off next time, as season ten commences with “The Return of Dregg”. 

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #Ninja Turtles #Turtlethon #1993 #TMNT III #TMNT Casey Jones #Casey Jones TMNT #Turtlethon Extra Slices #90s films #1990s films

[fearsmagazine]

ABRUPTIO - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Pending

SYNOPSIS:  “Les Hackel hates his life. He works a dead-end job, was just dumped by his high-maintenance girlfriend, and still lives with his nagging mom. One night, he discovers a fresh incision behind his neck. His friend Danny tells him it's a bomb, that someone has implanted one in his neck, too. And then the messages start coming in, forcing Les to carry out missions with deadly results. Les is partnered up with a series of oddball characters to commit heinous tasks. The violence escalating around him, Les pieces together the clues that reveal the horrific plans to breed a monstrous race of beings.”

REVIEW: Evan Marlowe’s screenplay is a nice blend of satire, science fiction and political commentary. His main character, Les Hackel is an amalgamation of J.D. Sallainger, William S. Burroughs and Hunter Thompson character who suffers from more contemporary issues.

Marlowe’s screenplay takes a classic 50’s/60’s science fiction tale and adds a bit of Lynch and Cronenberg to it, then takes it to another level with amazing life-size puppet designs that give the film a surreal and trippy feel. Enhancing all that is a fantastic vocal cast that brings these performances to life and at times allows you to forget you are watching puppets. As Hackel’s life begins to spiral out of control he contours bizarre characters that he is accepting of, unlike Dorothy in the land of Oz. Marlowe keeps Hackel grounded and easily accepting of the deadly tasks he is assigned without questioning them. When the police become involved they are aware and accepting of everything Hackel has done, but there is something lurking in his past that they are trying to get him to admit to. Marlowe seizes and engages the viewer’s attention with this wickedly delightful tale that ultimately pulls back the curtain in the final act to expose the story’s dark secret. For all its freakish elements the story builds tension and suspense to culminate in a shocking release.

With 30 credits to his name, features and shorts, the production values of the film showcase Marlowe’s talent as a director, cinematographer and editor. He obtains performances from both his voice actors and puppeteers that bring these characters to life.  I enjoyed their work as there was such a life quality to their performance, yet there was something reminiscent of the human puppets of the Jim Henson studio. Given the grotesqueness of several of the character designs, the film is still beautiful to look at. There are several scenes that are almost monologues, or where characters discuss social or philosophical issues, and the director magically edits the sequences creating energy and a nice pacing. The film took several years to complete. While he did not have to worry about his puppets aging, the film’s execution and look are cohesive and seamless. The gory special effects are intense and very lifelike, and reminded me of some of the early films of Peter Jackson. The score by Patrick Savage and Holeg Spies adds another level to the film as it accentuates the visuals, the action, and adds another dimension to Hackel.

ABRUPTIO features a first-rate cast of actors voicing these characters. Rather than going with performances that are caricatures, they create characters that have peculiar ticks that flown through the puppet designs to enchant the viewer. Some of the actors are clearly recognizable, a few become apparent when viewing the credits.  Actor Sid Haig voices Sal in one of his final film appearances.

ABRUPTIO is currently doing the festival circuit, and while I highly recommend seeing it in a theater, if there is a streaming opportunity don’t pass it up. Evan Marlowe delivers a mad-cap genre classic full of dark humor and gore. It is a ride not soon forgotten. Marlowe is a talented visionary and I am excited to see what he serves up next.

CAST (voices): James Marsters, Hana Mae Lee, Jordan Peele, Christopher McDonald, Robert Englund, Darren Darnborough, Rich Fulcher and Sid Haig. CREW: Director/Screenplay/Cinematographer/Editor - Evan Marlowe; Producers - Kerry Finlayson & Kerry Marlowe; Score - Patrick Savage & Holeg Spies; Lead Puppet Designer & Fabricator - Jeffrey S. Farley; Lead Puppeteer - Danny Montooth; Visual Effects Designer - John Sellings. OFFICIAL: www.abruptio.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AbruptioFilm TWITTER: N.A. TRAILER: https://youtu.be/MUGGBqrYL1A RELEASE DATE: Pending, a selection at numerous film festivals

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay),  or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#film review #movie review #abruptio #evan marlowe #jordan peele #robert englund #sid haig #horror #sci-fi #puppets #joseph b mauceri #joseph mauceri

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@softlytowardthesun

Thank you again for asking me!

And by the way, i am no scholar either, but i love learning about the Index classifications, wich i first heard of in the works of brazilian folklorist Luis da Câmara Cascudo.

As promissed, here are my favorite types of fairy tales in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification index:

ATU 302: Ogre's Hearth in the Egg

This is the type of tale where the main villain (usually a giant or ogre) has his life hidden outside of his body, and the hero must go in a journey with his animal friends to find the hiding place of the life and destroy the villain and his curses once and for all. Here in the Northeast of Brazil we have several variants, brought here by the portuguese. English speaking audiences may remember an episode of Jim Henson's The Storyteller, wich adapted a tale with this theme, ading a twist of making the hero a child who befriended the Giant and questions himself about killing him or not.

ATU 310: The Maiden in the Tower

Stories about young women traped in towers, either at adulthood by order of an evil stepfamily or as a child because she was kidnaped by a supernatural being in revenge for their parents stealing their fruits and vegetables. The second half of the story, during the heroine's adulthood, are romance focused, and concern the wounding of the heroine's lover or husband by an enemy. The climax of the action in both cases deals with the healing of his wounds by the heroine and their happy reunion.

ATU 333: Little Red Riding Hood

Tales about a girl who has to deal with the manipulations of a big wild animal who wants to lure her into a trap eat her and sometimes her grandmother. A perfect metaphore about victims of predatorial people. Sometimes the protagonist and her grandmother survive, but other times the tale ends with them both eaten.

ATU 410: Sleeping Beauty

The tale about a princess who is forced into an enchanted sleep and is later awakaned reversing the magic placed upon her.

ATU 425: Animal Bridegroom

Tales about human beings who fall in love with enchanted animals, and take journeys to recover their love after making a mistake like looking with curiosity at what should have kept a secret, accidentally hurting their beloveds, trying to break their enchantment too early, etc.

In Jim Henson's The Storyteller, there is an episode adapting the Brother's Grimm tale "Hans, my Hedgehog", wich is a great example of the genre.

ATU 451: The Maiden who Seeks her Brothers

In this type of tale, brothers leave the parental home because their father plan to kill them if the next baby their mother has is another boy, or are cursed by a family member, normally the mother or stepmother, to become birds (ravens, swans, eagles). The mother gives birth to a girl who after discovering she has siblings and why she never heard of them goes out to find them. When she finally finds her brothers, usually at the top of a glass mountain, they tell her she must keep silent for a period of time, for example one year for each brother. Sometimes she can't laugh or cry too. She also has to sew shirts and other pieces of clothing during that period of time. One day before the enchantment is over a king finds the heroine and brings her to his castle to marry her. The king's mother hates her daughter in law because she's mute, and each time she gives birth to a baby she abandons the baby and accuses the heroine of killing her own children. After so many allegations the heroine, who can't defend herself because she can't say a word, is condemned to die. The execution's day the brothers appear carrying the heroine's children and say to her sister that the spell is over, and that she can talk now. The heroine reveals all her mother-in-law's scheme, and proven her innocence the mother-in-law is executed instead. Normally although the spell is broken one of the brothers is left with a wing instead of an arm because her sister couldn't sew the missing sleeve, or missing an eye if she shed a tear when she was supposed to not cry besides not talk.

ATU 510 A & B: Cinderella and Donkeyskin

The first version refers to the tale about a girl who is orphaned from her mother and has to deal with her father's neglect and her stefamily's abuse, before finally finding her happiness. The second version refers to the tale of a woman who, usually because of her father's incestuous desire for her, has to run away in a grotesque desguise, surviving by working as a scullery maid in a palace before winning the love of the Prince by impressing him at a ball, where she wears three fantastical dresses. Together, these two tales as the Persecuted Lady Cycle.

Adaptations include the 1970 french movie musical Donkeyskin, adaptations of the british variant Cap O'Rushes by the anthology TV Shows Storybook International and Animated Tales of the World, and the episode Sapsorrow from Jim Henson's The Storyteller TV Series.

ATU 560-61: The Magic Ring and Aladdin and his Wonderfull Lamp

Tales about rogish young man who adventure trough magical worlds and rise from rags to riches with the help of a magic object. Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp is probably the most famous example, considering how many times it was adapted, but other examples include The Bronze Ring and Jack and his Golden Snuff Box.

ATU 707: The Three Golden Children

The name refers to a cycle of tales wherein a woman gives birth to children of wondrous aspect, but her children are taken from her by jealous relatives or by her mother-in-law, and her husband punishes her in some harsh way. Only years later, the family is reunited and the jealous relatives are punished. This type of tale develops the narrative in two eras: the tale of the calumniated wife as the first; and the adventures of the children as the second, wherein the mother becomes the object of their quest.

ATU 709: Snow White

A young woman who is horribly mistreated by an envious and jealous relative, is spared by a servant who was ordered to kill them, gets refuge in the home of an unconventional group like mining dwarfs, thiefs, fairies or dragons, suffers two or three more murder attempts by her envious relative before falling into a death like coma, and trough a happy accident is wakened up, ending either reunited with her father or happily married.

ATU 875: The Clever Farmgirl

Tales about a witty woman of humble background who marries a nobleman after solving his proposes enigmas, impressing him with her inteligence, but that he doesn't really want his wife to be involved in the ruling of the kingdom. Either because of gossip of his envious ministers, or he got angry because she dared questioning one of his decisions, the king orders his wife to leave the palace taking only what she finds the most important thing. The heroine asks him to have a fairwell dinner, where she puts a sleeping potion in his wine, and he takes him to her old poor home, and when he wakes up, she tells that to her, he is the most important thing. This amazes the king, they reconcile and return to the palace to live happily ever after.

ATU 1640-41: Lucky Accidents

Tales about an everyman who is tought to be (or boasts about being) the most clever, strong and brave of its kind, and succeeds in a mission given to them by a nobleman, sometimes with cunning and witty, other times by sheer luck.

The most famous and adapted tale of that kind is probably The Valiant Little Taylor, by the Brothers Grimm.

#softlytowardthesun #replied #answered #ask game #fairy tales #folklore #fantasy #mithology #literature

[mizucaku02]

A Sailor Moon Isekai

I know this might sound crazy or maybe someone else has thought of this already. But as of late for some reason I have been thinking of Sailor Moon in different genres and one I grown a fixation on was Sailor Moon in the isekai genre, but I want it to be like old isekai were our protagonist goes home after their journey is over.

Just think of this our main five girls get transported into idk the imperial silver kingdom and are given a quest by a crystal hologram of Queen Serenity . Telling them that they are the reincarnations of the guardians that once protected this realm but later died in the era of peace. But peace has come to end with the sudden attack of the dark kingdom coming to take over with Queen Beryl and her five heavenly generals on the move seeking for the silver crystal. Though before they can reach her domain she told the other rulers to crystalize their people so they don't have to face the war and to send out their pieces of the crystal so Queen Beryl's army won't find them. Queen Serenity was the last to send hers off but before she did she crystalized everyone she could even her own daughter and with the last bit of energy she opens a portal telling Luna and Artemis to go out and find the guardians so they may save their world. Stop Beryl, find the pieces of the silver kingdom, and save their realm.

That's what I have in mind it's not perfect but it could be interesting. some other ideas I had for are

I was thinking of it being in the style of Ghibli or in an Rakin Bass Claymation and stop motion. I just think it would be cute.

I would like it be in reference of Jim Henson's Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Alice in Wonderland. In tone and feel. If you know any anime that is in this realm then please tell me.

The way they would get transported would be like following the white rabbit. But instead we follow a black cat (Luna) into an museum and go through a Big hand carved wooden door. That would such you in and take you to an ruined and deserted home in the Silver kingdom.

The only reason I started to think of this is because I say a lot of ai images being uploaded onto YouTube. In the Dark Souls as an 80's dark fantasy. Something like that and I started to binge just about anything I could find in that style of course Sailor Moon popped up and that's what really inspired me to think of this.

Another thought I had on the backstory is that Beryl is the main cause of all this as perusal. But she comes up with a plan to make it seem as though Prince Endymion has died to Princess Serenity. And that Princess Serenity didn't want to see Endymion ever again. With Endymion depressed and filled with negativity it was easy to corrupt him and join her side as well as corrupting his generals. She will mostly use them to scour the lands in search of the crystal and obtain eternal power with her lover by her side. (this needs some work.)

Our girls would all be spilt up in different parts of the five realms. We will mostly be following Usagi throughout her travels with Luna by her side as she finds the other girls and explore the other kingdoms. In search for the Crystal.

As you can tell this is mostly a retelling of the first arc.

I'm thinking of adding the sub villains. That the generals would send after them.

The possible title for this project is. Guardians of the Silver Crystal: Secrets of the Silver Kingdom. This could change.

If you have any ideas or thoughts list them down below.

#sailor moon #isekai #fiction #story ideas #fantasy #list of ideas #sailor moon fanfic #shower thoughts

[teacup-captor]

You're inviting us to info dump in your ask box..?

Okay so

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's super popular in media, even among people who have never consumed any TMNT content. But what is its history?

It started as a much darker indie comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who created it as a parody of popular superhero/vigilante comics of the time (Daredevil was a big inspiration for them). It was first just one drawing of a bipedal turtle wearing ninja equipment and wielding a pair of nunchaku, with the writing "ninja turtle" to the side. From there, they started self-publishing the original comics under the name "Mirage", as their studio name. The first volume came out in 1984 and it had a pretty long run.

In the Mirage comics, all the turtles were essentially the same character. Their names were indeed Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael, but they all wore red bandanas and even switched weapons occasionally. They had basically no differences in personality. Here's a fun fact about Splinter: his name is a parody of Daredevil's master/mentor character, whose name is the Stick. So Splinter is just coming off of the Stick. And a fun fact about April O'Neil is that she wasn't actually white originally, she was mixed race. If I remember correctly, I believe one of the creators said that she was meant to be Black and Asian. She was modelled after a girlfriend one of them had at the time, who was mixed race.

In 1987, a studio approached Eastman and Laird and asked to turn their comic into toys. But to do it, they decided to make an animated show to act as television advertising. So the 1987 animated series was born. It was a hit, and that's probably the version you might see around most often. It ran for over a decade I believe. With the '87 show also came some companion comics, they're called the "Archie comics". I'm not actually sure why, they might've been made in collaboration with Archie.

In 1990, 1991 and 1992 came three live-action ninja turtles films and a TV series based on them. The puppetry and animatronics for the first two movies were done by the Jim Henson Company. The first film was really successful and critically acclaimed, it still holds up well today. The second and third movies (Secrets of the Ooze and Turtles in Time I think?) Did not do as well and were heavily criticized by critics and fans alike. The TV series made as a sequel to the movie also did poorly. It was titled The Next Mutation and saw a fifth ninja turtle, one named Venus de Milo. She wore teal and had her mask tails braided. In the show, she was from China and raised there, but only met the turtles at the start of the show. As with any show of its time, obviously the male characters had to flirt with and hit on the female lead, which led to some rather uncomfortable ideas, as all the ninja turtles are siblings.

Not much news came from TMNT for a while after that, until in 2003, when another animated show came out. It was a lot more dark than the '87 show, a lot closer to the original comics. However, it went much more in-depth with the characters. The 2003 version is widely considered to be the best TMNT show, but not everyone has that opinion. (I don't, for example.)

In 2007, another movie, an animated one, came out, simply titled TMNT. To be honest, I don't know much about this movie, but it's funny and people liked it. They were planning to release a sequel, but something happened and it was scrapped.

In 2011, IDW publishing came out with their own iteration of TMNT, which is called the IDW continuity. In this version, which is still ongoing, Raphael was separated from his brothers at first, but they met up at the start of the comics. Another thing is that it further exploded the turtles' and splinter's pasts, being reincarnated from people who lived in feudal Japan and were killed by the Shredder. This version also has (entirely in my opinion) some of the best versions of Casey and April. This comic saw another female ninja turtle, a yellow-wearing one called Jennika. Jennika is basically like Venus but infinitely times better.

In 2012, nickelodeon came out with a brand new cartoon, a 3D animated series that leaned more into the "teenage" aspect of the TMNT a bit more at the start. Tonally, it was lighter again, comparable to the first cartoon. That lighter tone didn't last for long, before long it had become dark again. At the start of its run, older ninja turtles fans were critical of it for it's tone. They eatethed their words pretty quickly though, the 2012 series is now beloved by so many old and newer fans. It ran until 2017, for five seasons.

In 2014 and 2016, there were two live-action movies directed by Michael Bay. Those movies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, had very mixed reception. It was heavily criticized for its portrayal of the turtles. However, some people really enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, those movies. I'm not the biggest fan of them personally, but to each their own.

Then in 2018, just a year after the 2012 series ended, a new series came out, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rise of the TMNT is a 2D animated version of the turtles. It saw them as various ages and various species of turtles. Executive produced by Andy Suriano and Ant Ward, it was a very new take on the turtles, and a lot of older fans didn't like that it's different. Due to poor advertising as well as backlash from older fans, it was put on indefinite hiatus in 2020, cutting season two in half and making an attempt to remove the opportunity for more seasons. However, in 2022, nickelodeon and Netflix came out with the Rise of the TMNT movie, which got a lot of new fans into it. Personally, rise is my favorite series. A ton of fans of rise are trying to get nickelodeon to continue with it, unpausing it. Prospects are actually looking pretty good for more rise right now. But remember we have to continue supporting the writers and actors in the WGA strike.

So cut to 2023. On August 2nd this year, we're getting a whole new TMNT movie, which is gonna be followed by a new series based on it. Mutant Mayhem, directed by Seth Rogen (I think he's directing?) will lean more into the teenage aspect of it than any previous version, and it looks super cool. I'm crazy excited for it to come out.

So there's a brief recap of the history of TMNT. I may have missed some parts, I apologize if I did. TMNT is one of my special interests, I could rant about it for so long. I just don't wanna keep typing :)

Thank you for the invitation to info dump, this is my favorite thing to write about fr

Omg aaaa yesss!!!!!! This is so cool anon ty for teaching me omg :O I had no idea there were so many different TMNT series lol

I'm so glad you got the opportunity to infodump as well :D I can tell you're passionate about this ^w^

Hope you have a lovely day anon!!!! (and if you or anyone else wants to tell me more, can someone tell me the differences between the turtles? And which one is which color? xD)

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #long post #infodumping #I LOVE WHEN PEOPLE INFODUMP <333 #THE PASSION!!! THE LENGTH!!! THE DETAIL!!!

[boardsontables]

On the Table Review: Clue Labyrinth By @theopgames Clue Labyrinth is the classic game of Clue themed to Jim Henson's Labyrinth. You play as characters: Sarah, Hoggle, Worm, The Wiseman, Sir Didymus and Ludo trying to find the character who was under The Goblin Kings Control and who stole Sarah's baby brother Toby. The twist with this edition like other newer versions of Clue is there are intrigue cards you draw when you land on or roll the ? On a die. These intrigue cards contain one time use abikities that give you an edge like an extra turn or the ability to request to see a card from another players hand. This deck also includes 8 clock card, if all 8 clock cards are drawn from the deck then Time has run out and the Game ends with no winner as Jarreth the Goblink King's plans we fulfilled. The other twist and the thematic touch this game brings is the use of dials under the four corners of the board. When you roll your movement dice you also roll a Labyrinth die. The die has NE, NW, SE and SW directions as well as a ? And a compas with all four directional arrows. Depending on the die face the player who rolled will turn the dial one notch, if the compass face is rolled all four dials are turned. This causes the doors of the rooms to change and become closed or opened. This turning of the dial also changes the secret passages that connect the rooms. This definitely reminds me of the movie and how the Labyrinth itself is a character and can cause headaches and frustration as the room your about to mive to is suddenly closed shut and you need to adjust your plans. This made me really relate with Sarah's from the movie and I could relate with feeling that everything was so unfair lol 😆 in all honesty it's not that bad and can actually help give you an extra turn at winning when this can happen to an opponent in the lead. This is a nice adaptation of the movie to a familiar classic. I enjoy the quirks this version brings and the originality used to mimic the Labyrinth changing with use of the dials. If you like Clue and this Jim Henson classic you may want to check this one out. This copy was sent to me by @theopgames But my thoughts are my own. (at Wonder Lake, Illinois) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj8LO92Lspc/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thebibliomancer]

Archaia’s Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance #12

The Journey into the Mondo Levidian Part 4

In this installment, they do not journey into the Mondo Levidian at all. Maybe this should have been titled Into the Guts and Back Again: A Gelfling’s Tale.

In part one, newly All-Maudra’d Mayrin deals with a Sifan separatist crisis but also plenty of unresolved mother-induced insecurity issues. She charters a ride with Captain Kam’Lu to speak to the separatist leader Fenth but a sea monster sinks the ship.

In part two, Mayrin and Kam’Lu are adrift at sea on a raft following the sinking but then they get eaten by a sea monster. The two meet the monster gut dwelling Boblings and learn that they have a limited time before the Mondo Levidian returns to the deeps and then there’ll be no escape for a trine. With the Bobling King’s daughter Gunda, the two set off on a journey out of the Mondo Levidian.

In part three, Mayrin, Kam’Lu, and Gunda set off on a journey to the Mondo Levidian’s porticol and fight a lot of Zoa. Mayrin and Kam’Lu become friends on the basis of name-shortening. And Mayrin flies Kam’Lu out of the closing porticol to save him from Zoa and prove her mom wrong.

So they’re out of the giant fish so what more is left of the story at this point? The answer is beneath the keep reading.

So let’s get started!

Dot arrives on SkekSa’s totally sweet monster/ship which she is very proud of.

SkekSa: “Greetings and welcome to the greatest behemoth in the Silver Sea, Ambassador Dot’leth! You’re aboard an unstoppable ship built with Skeksis ingenuity. Does our mastery of nature itself make you tremble in awe?”

Dot: “I assume you mean the second greatest behemoth in the Silver Sea, considering the attack on the Sifan ship that cost the lives of All-Maudra Mayrin and Captain Kam’Lu --”

SkekSa: “Well, yes, that was reported... but the captain of this ship has yet to find any proof of the alleged creature that destroyed the Sifan ship.”

Now, at first blush, this seems like SkekSa slipping up and accidentally admitting culpability like Prince Humperdinck in Princess Bride and his fastest ships.

But when the Mondo Levidian emerges from underwater, SkekSa goes from ‘what the heck’ to ‘i WANT that.’

SkekSa: “Second-greatest behemoth in the sea... bah! What does that ignorant old Vapran know about the sea! The only monsters here are --”

Mondo Levidian: -emerges-

SkekSa: “Oh. What other secrets are hiding in this infernal world...?”

And

SkekSa: “It’s been many trine since SkekSa discovered such a wonder -- and a majestic creature such as this deserves a naming ceremony! Vassa... You will be mine! The Mariner sails only the greatest creature -- er, ship -- in all of Thra!”

I had been assuming that the Mondo Levidian attack was a conspiracy by SkekSa to seize power for her preferred Gelfling clan. But it seems like it was just crazy random happenstance that she and Fenth got opportunistic over.

Also, holy crap, Dot has a full name?

And Fenth and Dot are implied to have History, being a little awkward around each other.

Over on top of the sea monster, Mayrin and Kam’Lu discover that the Zoa (led by the Zoa wearing clothes. The Necrozoa?) are following them up and out of the porticol. Mayrin and Kam’Lu have to take to the air again to try to escape to SkekSa’s ship.

Watching all of this happen, SkekSa settles on ‘bored of this.’

SkekSa: “New plan. SkekSa doesnt’ care anymore about your Gelfling squabbles.”

Fenth: “But...! But....! You said I could have power! We had a deal!”

SkekSa: “And SkekSa is bored of politics. I want that creature. I will be unstoppable, and all of Thra will be mine to explore! Entire lands waiting to be named -- named after me!”

I kind of like that SkekSa’s priorities are 1) Giant monsters, 2) Naming a lot of shit after herself, 3) The Sifan, I guessss. 2.5) is probably ‘ugh Skeksis politics uuugh.’

Mayrin manages to lead most of the Zoa swarm in front of the Mondo Levidian which jumps up and eats them.

She lands on the deck of SkekSa’s ship and has a moment with Kam’Lu.

This very good friendship has just become a kissing relationship.

It has been a hell of an enemies to lovers for them, huh?

The remaining Zoa and the Zoa-in-clothes, identified as being a queen Zoa? land on SkekSa’s dreadnought and Mayrin declares that the Zoa stand before a United Thra “Vapran courage and Sifan honor!” and for the Zoa to turn back or be destroyed.

Then there’s a massive Zoa vs Gelfling fight scene with SkekSa yelling for them to get off her ship.

I adore her.

Fenth gets upset that Mayrin is uniting the Sifa and Vapra and decides ‘hey, all kinds of things can happen in the heat of combat’ and throws an entire ass sword at Mayrin’s back.

But Kam’Lu blocks the attack with the goo shield (which he evidently kept). And its a bit of a broken pedestal moment considering Kam’Lu’s personality in issue one was ‘hey did you hear this cool stuff Fenth is saying??’

Kam’Lu: “Vile traitor! I trusted you! I believed in your lies and your wisdom! I thought you would lead us to something better... But you are the poison to all Gelfling-kind -- a poison I can no longer willingly imbibe!”

Good for you, Kam’Lu.

The war against the bugs ends when Mayrin stabs the queen Zoa in the eye and yells a defiant speech to her.

Mayrin: Queen, I am not one for violence -- But I will resort to it if I must! I will do whatever is necessary to save my kind -- just like you. We are the same! Please! Turn away! Turn away and end this needless bloodshed!”

And the queen Zoa does.

Whether actually moved or cowed by Mayrin’s speech or because she’s smart enough not to go in for sunk cost, the queen and the remaining Zoa take off.

Good job, Mayrin.

Although, it is funny that you tried to sue for peace when you earlier described the queen Zoa as “a monster filled with blind hate, resentment, and beastly rage. Something born in the pit of despair and darkness... Something that knows only hunger and power.”

But it won’t be the first time that Gelfling were way off in regards to the Arathim slash offshoots, nor the last.

Still, it feels right that the final boss of Mayrin’s plot was a giant monster queen wearing her mother’s clothes that she fends off by confidently telling to buzz off.

Fenth tries to blame the whole situation on Mayrin for leading the bugs to the ship, which is technically true. But Kam’Lu has become Mayrin’s biggest supporter because the boy believes with all his heart.

Kam’Lu: “You’re wrong! Mayrin is here because she had to save us at all costs! She is here because she is fighting to keep the seven clans together! She has been through a bizarre adventure, struggling through the stomach of monsters unknown!”

“I was just like Fenth -- I distrusted Mayrin because she was a Vapran. But Mayrin has saved my life too many times to count. She proved her strength in the toothrakes! She outwitted the horrifying King Bobling! She fought bravely and earned the respect of the greatest warrior of Bajula! She is what the Sifa clan needs. What all Gelfling need! In the darkness of the Mondo Leviadin, Mayrin led the way. I believe in her.”

“LONG LIVE ALL-MAUDRA MAYRIN!”

“And I swear, from this day to my last, when my body is taken by Thra, that I will fight for her -- by her side. As her friend... Her captain... Her...”

And then he trails off there because Mayrin holds his hand and the poor boy only has so much processing power.

Also, he kinda embellished Mayrin’s accomplishments by saying she outwitted the “horrifying” Bobling King. That guy was a kitten.

The Sifan Maudra is intrigued by all this love biz and asks Mayrin what she would do if the Sifans do decide to leave the clans.

Mayrin: “If we are to separate, then the seas will weep for the lonely Sifa clan. The mountains of Ha’rar will shake in the bitter Vapran gales. We must be the shining light of Thra -- together!”

“We are the living monuments of everything that touches us, be it the good and warm that gives us hope... or the malice and greed that drives us down darker paths. And... I wear my mother’s colors. I know it. I feel it -- I accept it. But I am not my mother.”

“I promise that I will bleed for you! I will fight for you! I will break my body in half to ensure that you have yours! To sail the sea as you see fit! So please, give me the chance to prove it to you! Give me the chance to fail and to succeed! if you do... Perhaps we may all grow old together -- knowing what unity is meant to be... knowing what love is --”

WOO!

Fenth is less than thrilled. Not just for his thwarted ambitions but because SkekSa has thoroughly gotten sick of him and is probably annoyed that she had to sit through all these speeches without even getting a giant sea monster.

She grabs him and drags him away through the crowd while everyone is distracted being jubilant.

SkekSa: “Take a long look at the Silver Sea, Fenth -- It will be many trine before you witness it again... Skeksis friend SkekTek the Scientist has plans for Gelfling who fail!”

Huh. Wonder what that means. This is way too soon for draining to be on the table.

Later, WEDDING TIME!

On the cliff above Raunip’s pass, the Sifan and Vapran come together for the wedding of Mayrin and Kam’Lu.

Dot assumes that Mayrin chose the venue so she can fly Raunip’s Pass with the power of love but Mayrin chose the venue so she can deliberately not do that because she’s done following her mom’s path.

Mayrin: “You have taught me the most important thing, Kam’Lu -- that I am the only one responsible for the path I fly. That we must all chart our own path -- and that we cannot do that when the dense cloud of grief fogs our vision. And that to be my best self -- no matter who it is that I am -- I must be myself. Faults and failures and scars and all. Understanding that acceptance is not the same as failure. We must think of the future of our kind.”

Its also implied that Mayrin is already pregnant as she declares that she’ll name her firstborn Seladon, after Mayrin’s mother.

... It is incredibly ironic. Mayrin declares that she’s going to set her own path and then chooses her mother’s name for her daughter. The daughter that she’s going to repeat a lot of Seladon I’s parenting mistakes with, giving Seladon II a whopping case of insecurity and unfortunately no character building adventure with a hunky sea captain.

Hm. I wonder what happens with Kam’Lu. That whole family situation probably would have been less of a timebomb with him around. Alas, the sea is a harsh mistress. Full of fish and salt.

So, the last arc of Archaia’s Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal Age of Resistance comics. I still have two of the YA novels to read but with the cancellation of the show, who can say when there will be more comics.

But the comic ends strong. We visit another parent when they’re young and get to see more wild Thra life. We get to see SkekSa! She’s a delight. We get to see another side of the Sifan than the brief appearances in the show.

Thanks for the good times, Archaia’s Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance comic.

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #dark crystal age of resistance #Archaia's Dark Crystal #a prequel to a prequel #All Maudra Mayrin #Captain Kam'Lu #Fenth #SkekSa #The Mariner #Dot the Undaunted

[aion-rsa]

What Went Wrong With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze?

https://ift.tt/3cey4oF

The story of how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles went from underground comic book to the highest grossing independent film of all time is the stuff of Hollywood legend. But ask producer Tom Gray about the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, and you are likely to hear an altogether different tale. One of a frantically rushed production, censorship backlash and a change of director and direction. Actors were replaced, there were clashes with the comic book creators and a series of strange and unusual characters were added to the mix – including Vanilla Ice.  

Gray was head of production at Golden Harvest, the Hong Kong studio behind martial arts classics like Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon, when comedian-turned screenwriter Bobby Herbeck first approached him about a live-action film adaptation of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s cult comics.  

It’s fair to say he took some convincing.  

“I hated the idea. I thought it was stupid,” Gray tells Den of Geek. Undeterred, Herbeck pestered Gray for months until the Golden Harvest chief had a sudden change of heart.   

“I had an epiphany and thought we could just put stunt guys in turtle suits and make all our money in Japan. That was why I was interested; making it low budget. It escalated when Steve Barron came onboard.”   

Barron had made his name with groundbreaking music videos for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and A-Ha’s “Take on Me” and sold Gray and TMNT creators Eastman and Laird on his vision for the movie.   

More importantly, he enlisted the late Jim Henson and his legendary Creature Shop to bring the Turtles to life using state-of-the-art animatronics, which came at no small expense.   

Even so, Gray found the project was a hard sell when it came to finding a major studio willing to distribute the movie.   

“George Lucas’s Howard the Duck had just come out and bombed,” he recalls. “When I went around people would say ‘oh no I’m not going to put my name on the next Howard the Duck. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, how absurd.’ Nobody wanted to step up in the major studios.”   

Undaunted by the mass rejection (“Hollywood is always the last to know”) Gray eventually secured a deal with New Line Cinema, then best known for A Nightmare on Elm Street. 

The rest, as they say, is history.  

That first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie came from nowhere in the spring of 1990 to make an astonishing $135 million, becoming a cultural phenomenon in the process. A sequel was inevitable but the results were anything but.   

“It was rushed,” Gray says when asked for his overriding feelings about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.  “Once the first film opened, we figured we had to get another one out as quickly as possible because this whole thing could fade away very quickly if we didn’t come back.”   

Incredibly, a release date for the sequel was set for almost exactly a year on from the original. That seems crazy to think now, in the era where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is carefully plotted out years in advance, but this was 1990 and New Line Cinema. At this point the production company which was working on its sixth Nightmare on Elm Street Movie in the space of just seven years. The quality of those films had varied wildly but one thing had remained consistent: the quick turnaround.  

“New Line wanted it out on pretty much the same date, maybe a week earlier in fact. So, we rushed into the production, got a script together. The overarching thing was speed. We had to get it out,” Gray remembers. “I think that’s probably the reason why it doesn’t top many people’s list of the best Turtles movies.”   

A Change in Tone

One of the first challenges facing Gray was a tonal one. While the first TMNT film had garnered praise for maintaining the dark and dangerous feel of the original comics, not everyone was happy.   

“We started getting some pressure from parental groups. They felt it was a little too dark and a little too frightening for children,” Gray says.  

In the US, there were reports of Turtles toys and merchandise being banned in schools over worries they encouraged aggressive behavior in kids. In the UK, the characters were even rebranded the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles amid concern among censors that the word “ninja” promoted violence. Michelangelo’s nunchucks were also banned. It wasn’t just the censors who expressed concern either.   

“The toy company was also telling us that maybe we shouldn’t be too dark,” Gray said. “And then, of course, then there was Jim Henson himself, who died while we were making the first film. His whole thing from the beginning was that he didn’t want to make a really dark film. Steve [Barron] was able to convince him it was the way to go even though it was different from the Muppets and everything he had done before. They had a great relationship. Jim trusted Steve.”   

The decision was made to approach the material with a lighter tone, with Todd Langen’s original script undergoing a major rewrite to address the change. Despite the change Gray insists an attempt was made to retain some of the darker elements.   

“We tried to get somewhere in between but probably didn’t succeed.”   

Ultimately, however, the looming deadline left little room for nuance.    

“If you sit down and think about this thing too much, you’re never going to get underway,” he reasons.

A New Director  

In another notable shift that fans have questioned down the years, Barron did not return for the sequel.  

The Irish filmmaker told Flickering Myth that the shift in sensibilities was the deciding factor.   

“[It was] lighter, and all the instructions that had gone on from the first film were coming from the producers about keeping the color and lightness and getting away from the dark edge in number two,” he said. “For me it was poppy, and that wasn’t my sensibility.” 

Gray tells Den of Geek Barron didn’t come back “for reasons that I won’t go into” but during the interview paints a picture of difficulties during their work together on the first film.   

“I fought with the crew every single day but they did a hell of a job. Budgets were not adhered to but I’ve always given them credit because of their vision,” Gray says.   

The producer also revealed that the first film was re-edited from Barron’s original version after his bosses were left unhappy with the director’s cut.  

“The studio did edit the film in the end to come up with a different version.  It was felt it was cut so you didn’t get to see the roundhouse kicks and fighting which was the hallmark of Golden Harvest. When the bosses saw it in Hong Kong, they complained that they couldn’t tell what the turtles were doing. They wanted to see these guys kicking and fighting. Steve’s style was good but we wanted another look.”   

Despite Gray’s diplomatic tone, it’s not difficult to imagine such developments might have created tension. In Barron’s place came American filmmaker Michael Pressman, who Gray knew from his days at United Artists.    

“What I liked about Michael was that he was a disciplined director. Having gone through the problems with the first picture I wanted someone who shot fast and stayed on budget. That was my main motivation,” the producer says.    

A capable director who has gone on to enjoy a long and varied career in television, little of the blame for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2’s failing can fall at Pressman’s feet though it’s undeniable that some of the creative spark of the first film was lost with Barron’s exit.   

So was much of the original’s violence, with the Turtles rarely shown using their weapons in the finished film while the action set pieces were also significantly watered down.  

Eastman and Laird

Despite the criticism levelled at the sequel for failing to retain the tone of the comics, all of what went into the movie was greenlit by the TMNT creators. Part of the deal inked by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman saw them retain final approval on anything in the film. But that created other issues both at script and production level, as Gray recalls.  

“Kevin was certainly more malleable with going along with things because of the budget but Peter was very difficult to get things by because he would say ‘Oh, well Michelangelo would never say that’. So, it was very hard from the point of view of the writer trying to figure it all out.”   

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With Barron no longer around to mediate and sell them on the plans and with time ticking on, the pair’s reluctance to sign off on ideas led to increased tensions.  

“We argued a little bit,” Gray says. “These things are never sweet or nice. It gets down to what we can do and, in the time provided. It’s about compromise. In the end they approved Langren’s changed script.  Maybe it was reluctantly but we weren’t going to meet the demand and get this out if they kept changing things.”   

Tokka and Rahzar

One of the most noted criticisms of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 concerned the decision to introduce two new sidekicks alongside returning villain Shredder, rather than draw on the wild array of mutant animals that had featured in the comics and TV series. 

Many fans had expected to see Bebop and Rocksteady, the mutant warthog and rhinoceros supervillains made famous in the cartoon, feature. However, that cartoon outing proved both a blessing and a curse. 

“I didn’t want them in any of the movies,” Laird later revealed on his personal blog. “It’s not so much that I disliked the characters so intensely, but more that I found their constant one-note shtick in the first animated series to be extremely annoying and silly to the point of being stupid.”  

Gray’s version of events differs slightly.   

“We wanted new villains because we would get a piece of the royalty, which we didn’t have with the first movie. We figured if we created something they didn’t come up with we would get a piece of the pie. It was a business decision.”   

Together with the creatives at Henson’s Creature Shop, they “threw together” Tokka and Rahzar, a mutant Alligator Snapping Turtle and wolf respectively, based on pretty much whatever was available. 

“Those things were basically the Henson Creature Shop’s ideas, because they had to figure out, technically, what they could do, how big they were going to be and how they could move,” Gray says. “They had to design all this stuff, put someone in the suit and then wire them up or get the animatronics going to make it work. So, we just went to them and said we need a couple of villains.” 

Indeed, the resulting animatronics proved less complex and less compelling than the heroes in a half shell – and it showed on screen.   

“They were just big models,” Gray admits. “We cut corners, there’s no question about it.”   

Sweaty and Claustrophobic

Meanwhile, the turtle suits themselves had undergone little in the way of upgrades since the first film, when the actors playing the four leads experienced any number of issues. Not the least of which being the claustrophobia and sweating that comes with wearing up to 70lbs worth of turtle suit.  

The animatronics also, despite being state-of-the-art, continued to suffer their fair share of glitches.  

“We knew what the difficulties were and they were unbelievable,” Gray says. “There were days when we couldn’t even get these things set up.  We were filming right near the Wilmington Airport. We set up a shot and when it came time for action the Turtles would not speak. We realized they were on the same frequency as the airport.”    

Gray blames the lack of a major upgrade, in part, on the lack of additional budget.    

“The budget didn’t exponentially go through the roof, because of the speed,” he explains. “I have read things saying it was $20 million. It wasn’t, it was $16.5 million.”  

A New April O’Neil

Away from the animatronic issues, the human cast of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 proved a mixed bag.  Corey Feldman didn’t return to voice Donatello after pleading no contest to a drug possession charge while, more notably still, Judith Hoag was replaced by Paige Turco as April O’Neil.  

Hoag later told Variety she was never approached about the sequel, claiming her omission was a result of the fact she complained about the level of violence in the first movie and the six-days-a-week shooting schedule.  

“Everybody was beating everybody up,” Hoag said. “I thought the movie suffered because of that. It was something I spoke to the producers about, I think they thought I was too demanding, and moved on.” 

Not that Gray felt the production suffered as a result of either changes.  

“No, not at all,” he says. “Certainly not with Corey Feldman because it’s a voice. Remember when you play that movie around the world it will be in 40 or 50 different languages and subtitled anyway. It makes no difference and nobody overseas even knew Corey Feldman was doing a voice…With Judith, we thought it might be of concern but then again it’s all about the Turtles. People aren’t showing up for Judith – though she did a fabulous job – it was really all about the Turtles.”   

Elias Koteas also failed to return as the ice hockey stick-wielding vigilante and ally Casey Jones – though that was more down to the film’s shift away from adult themes and one of the more violent human characters.   

“Casey was discussed but the reason he dropped out – and I don’t think this was a major issue – was the direction we wanted to take the film,” Gray says. “We wanted to go lighter. That was part of cleaning up the act.”   

In his place came Ernie Reyes Jr, a rising martial arts star who had served as a stuntman on the first film and was introduced as Keno, a pizza delivery boy who befriends the turtles. It was a stark departure from Koteas’s character but, once again, it was one Gray says came with the backing of the TMNT hierarchy.   

“If Peter and Kevin had wanted Elias back, he would have been back. So, either we were able to convince them that we wanted to go with Ernie and they went along with it.”   

Vanilla Ice

Quite how they were convinced to include rapper Vanilla Ice in the proceedings is anyone’s guess, with the rapper turning up in a mid-film nightclub scene to perform new single “Ninja Rap.” His cameo continues to delight and horrify fans to this day. Few will be surprised by the commercially-minded circumstances that led to his appearance.   

“SBK the record label producing the soundtrack album said ‘You gotta have Vanilla Ice in this, he’s hot’ so we put him in…We had a good album out of it. Sometimes you don’t make the movie for the reason of art you make it because the thing could go away in a heartbeat. I’ve always been fairly honest and upfront about our motives. It is a business.”     

While others might disagree, Gray stands by the inclusion of Vanilla Ice in the film.  

“He actually did a very good job. He’s a very cool operative and he loved doing it.”   

Shredder or Krang?   

Looking back on the sequel, as much as anything, the most disappointing aspect was the decision to resurrect Shredder rather than explore different villains in the way other comic book franchises have.  

While Shredder has always been the main antagonist, as with Bebop and Rocksteady, there remained a plethora of colorful villain characters that could have been plucked from the pages of the original comic or the animated series. But the decision to stick with Shredder was not one takem lightly by anyone, and others were discussed.  

“We went through the whole catalogue of villains and certainly Krang and all these other characters were in play,” Gray says. “We thought of them but we stayed with what works and that’s what you do in these situations. Don’t try and get too clever.”   

As much as anything he blames the Hollywood system and a refusal to take risks. New Line too, would have no doubt been happy to press ahead with a Shredder-oriented sequel, seeing him as the TMNT’s very own Freddy Kreuger of sorts.  

“Nobody trusts their instincts,” Gray says. “You go with what worked before and try to modify it a little bit. If it works [and the plethora of Freddy sequels suggests it did] then you are justified in using the same thing over and over again.”  

Once again though the decision to stick with Shredder and avoid the kind of time and expense required to create something like Krang, a brain-shaped alien carried around in the waist of a robot man, was influenced by that release date.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze opened in theaters on March 22, 1991, less than a year on from the original. It went on to make over $78 million to become the second most successful independent film of all time.   

Despite turning a profit, the film garnered mixed reviews and left Gray and others disappointed.  

“It didn’t deliver on what we had hoped because there was this race against time to get it out one year after the first one. When you do that, you really have to compromise.”  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III 

After the rush to make a second film, it was decided that they would take more time over the third one.  

But anyone hoping for a return to form was left disappointed by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in TIme, which saw the gang head to 17th century Japan.  

“With number three, we were aiming something at the Japanese market, which was the number one market for foreign films,” Gray explains. “That’s why we had the time travel storyline with the samurais. That was definitely one of the motivations.”  

There was just one problem though.  

“We hoped it would get the film released in Japan. To this day, it has not been released in Japan.”  

Though Gray returned to produce an animated fourth film in the 2000s box office returns diminished with every film. By the time Michael Bay got involved in the franchise, Gray was long gone. He now considers himself “out of the turtle game” with this being one of the last interviews on the subject. But despite the highs and lows endured on the second film, Gray remains proud of what was achieved. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

“These movies were made by committee. It’s amazing they turned out so well.”  

The post What Went Wrong With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3c7N9be

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[thecomicsnexus]

Men of Shadow

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #29 MARCH 1990 BY A. C. FARLEY

SYNOPSIS (FROM TURTLEPEDIA)

In this issue's prologue, we see a man seated in what appears to be a space craft, musing about his desire to be a hero... as his computer accesses files regarding the Necronomicon.

Meanwhile, the TMNT are apparently skirmishing with a gigantic turtle robot in the woods of Northampton as Master Splinter looks on. Suddenly the bot ceases its operations and comes crashing to the ground. The Turtles scramble to open the machine up, and Donatello pops out, explaining how he accidentally overloaded the onboard computer and with a few tweaks he'll have it ready to roll again.

In Arkham, Massachusetts we're introduced to two boys, named Max and Pervis. Max has just purchased an expensive back issue of a comic book and Pervis is warning him about his parents' reaction... which is sure to be very negative. Max explains that he's already in trouble and headed for summer school because he flunked math. The bad news only gets worse as the two lads are assailed by a group of bullies, led by a big fat kid named Barry. Barry grabs Max in a head lock and then tears up his comic before walking off, warning the comic fans that he'll be back later.

Cut to scene at the University of Massachusetts, where we learn that a group of armed men have taken control of the UMass library annex, called the Whately House. Swarms of police surround the building and the situation is dire and tense. Apparently the house had just been moved to the Amherst site from its original location of Arkham. Almost everyone managed to escape the criminals thanks to two heroic people inside, but those people are now being held captive... the heroic duo being April and Casey! The gunmen have sworn to destroy the museum and kill all inside rather than surrender.

In the Whatley House, April and Casey are tied up and are being held at gunpoint by three pointy eared men who are accompanied by a small horde of what appear to be zombies... zombies that have telltale bite marks on their necks, as if they'd been bitten by vampires. The three malefactors vow to blow up the museum rather than let the humans find physical evidence of their existence. The leader hands a detonator device to a zombie and tells him to hold the button down - if commanded, the underling is to release the button, which will detonate a huge stockpile of TNT and decimate the structure, including all inside.

As April and Casey discuss their predicament, the leader of the criminals, Mallet, snarls at them (revealing vampire teeth) and tells them that they're waiting for their Master Traquer to arrive. Mallet then radios a henchmen who is outside in a truck, surrounded by numerous police vehicles, and alerts him to the plan. Apparently the "brainless ones" will be used as a diversion that will allow the vampires to escape with some sort of mystic artifact that they've come here to retrieve.

Just then we see the TMNT crawling through an attic window located at the rear of the house. The Turtles walk downstairs and tell Mallet that they've only come for Casey and April, and if they're allowed to leave, there will be no trouble. This amuses Mallet and he tells the Turtles that they will die with their friends. Suddenly, the man from the prologue appears out of thin air and grabs Mallet. The Turtles leap into action. The mystery man informs our heroes that to rid themselves of their undead foes, they must pierce their hearts with wood or separate their head from their body. The Turtles are a bit freaked about the news that they're fighting zombies and vampires, but they waste no time in breaking up the furniture to make crude stakes. The zombies are dispatched easily, but the vampires turn into bats and fly out of a window. The mystery man has subdued the "neo-dead" slave holding the detonator, and he leaps from the window with the zombie and bomb in tow. As the man and monster fall, the dynamite explodes.

The vampire in the truck below takes this as a sign to flee, and so puts the peddle to the metal, scattering the police as he tears away. The TMNT spot him and Don throws a special tracking shuriken that imbeds itself into the back door of the vehicle, so the Turtles will be able to locate the vehicle later. The guys then untie Casey and April and everyone escapes while the police are distracted by the fleeing truck.

Meanwhile, Max and Pervis are out in a field. Max is standing with his arms spread wide, explaining to Pervis that his home is light years away, that he's a prince brought to Earth to escape assassination threats. As Max tells his tale (which Pervis isn't buying for a minute), he screams for his "family" to pick him up and return him to his home planet... and just then something crashes into the ground a few meters away!

Max rushes to investigate, and the mystery man crawls from the wreckage, a real mess his own self. Pervis takes off to get help for the injured fellow while Max helps him to a hidden underground chamber filled with incredibly advanced technological devices (and strange beasties, creatures with one giant eye and bat wings). The man climbs into a pod, telling the lad to stay put and not to touch anything.

As soon as the man is sealed in his pod, Max ignores the instructions and accesses the main computer. He finds the log files and we learn that the man is named Clark Ashton Allard, and he's being spied upon by the strange bug-eyed creatures that are locked up in the cages. Apparently the beasts are being sent by Master Traquer in effort to keep Allard out of Tracquer's affairs - which involve something in the Whatley House. Clark notes that the house should never have been removed from its original site, as it was protected by many powerful spells that were broken once it was moved... protective spells that kept the artifacts within the building safe from harming humanity. The Whatley family had safeguarded these artifiacts for generations, and Tracquer had spent that time deciphering what they were and how to utilize them. Allard writes that he has no idea what the vampire is up to, but he's sure it means great suffering for the world... so Clark vows to stop Tracquer and continue to fight for good, as he's done for aeons.

Meanwhile, the Turtles, Casey and Splinter have tracked the vampire truck to Arkham, Massachusetts, but right outside of city limits their jeep has broken down. Fortunately they've brought the giant Turtlebot with them, so everyone climbs on board and Don pilots the mechanical terrapin.

Back in Allard's secret underground chamber, Max is rudely interrupted from his reading as Master Traquer and three of his vampiric underlings arrive. Unfortunately Clark is still in his healing mechanism, so the monsters grab the boy and smash the glass on the pod to unceremoniously remove Allard, who is out cold.

Pervis hears noise back where he'd left his friends and returns to investigate. The boy sees Traquer dragging Max out of the chamber by his neck. Pervis tries to ride off to seek help, but he hits a rock and breaks the front wheel on his bicycle. As he laments his situation, he sees a loud and looming form emerging from the darkness... it's the Turtlebot!

"Hey, kid," Casey calls out, "We're kinda lost! Can ya give us some directions?!"

Innsmouth, Massachusetts - The vampires are in a hideout on the wharf, inside Allard and Max are tied. Fortunately, Clark has almost healed fully at this point. Traquer announces that they are going to summon a hideous monster called Dagon to destroy mankind. As the convocation begins, the TMNT crash through a wall and a huge battle ensues. Unfortunately, the ceremony was completed and Dagon arrives - a huge tentacled beast that immediately begins grabbing vampires and eating them. Don's robot is captured in tentacles but he blasts out of the machine before its swallowed. Casey is fighting Traquer but not doing very well... as the vampire master prepares to dine on Jones' neck, Max stabs the monster in the back with one of Casey's broken baseball bats and kills it.

Meanwhile, Allard is struggling with an artifact in the attempt to close the gateway that has allowed Dagon to enter our dimension. As he makes adjustments to the device, the beast grabs him. Clark tosses the artifact into the gaping maw, hoping to close the gateway from the other side. Suddenly a huge explosion rocks the building to its foundation and our heroes run for cover as the structure collapses. Once the dust has settled, Splinter sends his students to find Allard and the artifact, but there's no sign of either.

The next day we see Max and Pervis walking down the street. Once again Barry and his cronies show up. Barry states that they've got unfinished business from yesterday. Pervis tells Max to apologize, but Max refuses.

"No way!" Max shouts in defiance, "After last night, these guys are nothin'!"

So Barry punches Max in the eye, knocking him to the ground and giving him quite a shiner.

"Some thanks for saving the world!" Max bemoans.

Meanwhile, we see Casey phoning April and telling her that they'll be home as soon as they fix the truck.

Finally, we see Clark Ashton Allard in his healing pod.

REVIEW

I appreciate A. C. Farley’s intentions, and I did get his Lovecraft references... but... I cannot say it worked for me. There is just too much going on. Robots, vampires, extra-dimensional entities, an android... I know this is TMNT and anything can happen, but I don’t feel like any of these things worked in the end.

The art is also a bit weird, the Turtles look a bit like the Jim Henson version of them, but a little bit more lifeless (then in the other hand, they do look like Turtles).

I give this story a score of 5.

#a c farley #mirage studios #comics #review #1990 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #modern age #casey jones #splinter #indie

[sunstar-of-the-north]

Bonds: Chapter Nine

          The Cobbler let out a content sigh. The broken boot was fixed and better than ever. He handed it to the gelfling that was waiting patiently in the corner. “Here you are. The new leather should last you awhile. Make sure to dry the leather slowly when you are cleaning it. If not it will crack.” The gelfling nodded. “Thank you very much Lord SkekVisk.” He only nodded. “You are free to go.” The gelfling bowed deeply and thanked him one last time before leaving the room. SkekVisk started to clean up once he was alone.

           He could hear the door creak open as he was cleaning. He didn’t look up however, too focused on his task. “I’m not taking any more repairs for today. Come back tomorrow.”

           “I’m not here for repairs.”

           SkekVisk stopped. That was no gelfing who spoke. He turned around to see the Soldier staring at him. SkekVisk was immediately filled with wariness and fear. SkekSil’s words from the day before echoed in his thoughts. “…Military Alliance might try to ‘convince’ string to join them. If string does not, SkekUng and company might…tie up loose end.” The Cobbler pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he addressed SkekCen. “Why are you here then?”

           The Soldier folded his hands behind his back, voice leveled. “It has been many months since I have last visited this place.” SkekVisk narrowed his eyes, not believing his words of sentiment. “It has been many months because your shoes have not been broken.” SkekCen didn’t flinch from his harsh tone. He just simply approached one of the tables full of tools. He picked up a sharp knife. SkekVisk started to sweat. SkekCen was observing the tool as he talked. “What are your thoughts concerning the Spy’s betrayal?”

           The Cobbler eyed him suspiciously while nervously licking his lips. “What does it matter? He is gone and probably dead by now.” The taller skeksis stared at SkekVisk from the corner of his eye. He kept the gaze, even if the Cobbler was terrified. SkekVisk was never close to the Spy. Yes, they were both loners but unlike the shoe maker, SkekVet was a part of an alliance. The lord wasn’t dumb enough to believe that the Spy was planning on overthrowing the Emperor though. He was a spineless coward, unless the Spy Master was nearby. Someone else was pulling the strings.

           “Your thoughts do matter.” SkekVisk was mildly surprised by the other skeksis’ comment. SkekCen put the knife back and faced him. “Since you are not part of an alliance, you don’t hold any bias. You can speak freely and not have it affect any of them.” SkekVisk was beside himself. “Why in the world is he saying this? What he is he hoping to gain?” The Soldier walked closer to him, causing the lord to tense up. He stopped once they were five feet from each other. “So tell me, Cobbler, what are your thoughts?” He furrowed his eye brows. “Why do you care so much about what I think?”

           SkekCen was silent for a moment before speaking. “…I want to ask for your console.” SkekVisk raised an eyebrow. “My console?” The taller skeksis nodded. He let out a tired sigh, rubbing his temple. “It seems that whoever I speak with, they have some ulterior motive. You are different however—you have none.” SkekVisk was confused. “Don’t you have the Star Gazer to discuss such matters with?” The other skeksis leaned against the table, face worn. “…There are somethings that I don’t even want her to know…” The Cobbler watched him for a moment. “This has to be a ruse. He complains about ulterior motives as if never had any, or has any now.”

           The shoe maker crossed his arms. “What do you want from me Soldier?” He turned to SkekVisk, face emotionless. “I only want a moment of your time—to talk. A request of mine is any conservation we have remained between the two of us.” SkekCen stood up straight, dusting off his lower robes. “You don’t have to decide now. When you have, send for me.”

            The smaller skeksis slightly cocked his head. “What do I get in return?” SkekCen blinked, expressing slight shock. “…What would you want?” The Cobbler looked him dead in the eyes, gaze hard. “I want to stay out of your politics. I have no desire to be a part of whatever is going on in the court nor do I want to be cajoled into an alliance.” The two were silent, faces trained on the other. Moments passed before SkekCen spoke. “…I can arrange that.”

            He offered the fellow lord a hand. “Do we have a deal?” SkekVisk looked at him for a while. He then shook SkekCen’s clawed hand. The skeksis nodded in approval. He turned around, heading toward the door. “We will discuss the time of meetings later. I shall let you rest.” With that, he left the room. The Cobbler remained quiet. He couldn’t believe what just happened. He was also questioning why in the name of Thra he agreed to be SkekCen’s confidant. “What did I get myself into? Is he truly going to keep his end of the bargain?” A sudden thought occurred to him. If he does go against his word, SkekVisk could tell his alliance all of the secrets the Soldier told him in exchange for solitude. He felt reassured with this plan. The lord continued to clean, still somewhat worried with what tomorrow would bring.

SkekCen/SkekVisk/Bonds (c) Me The Dark Crystal (c) Jim Henson

#The Dark Crystal #the dark crystal au #au #bonds au #the dark crystal skeksis #skeksis #Skeksis OC #skeksis ocs #ocs #movie #My writing

[thelasttraintoarcady]

GABI GARBUTT - A PORTRAIT

"....the inferno of your spirit sparks in deadly release, our souls fly up like lanterns and they crash down at our feet...."

To those of us who frequented the music pubs of Camden, certain venues out East and the London poetry den Y Tuesday, such lyrical flights by Gabi Garbutt are not unusual, as she is no stranger to our stages. We've seen her charming pixie-punk form flitting before us like the secret love sprite of William Blake and Patti Smith, with songs sung in her own unique English accent shaped from living in London, Gloucester and London once again. To many of us, this just what music needed, an authentic songsmith who's words really take you somewhere.

One always sensed she looked set for a major breakthrough to the big time but never quite got the breaks. Undeterred, she honed her craft wrote what needed to be written and was never afraid to jump up on any platform and try out a new song. There was a false start at the next level for her previous band  The Sticklers, who's show in Manchester supporting the Libertines fell through at the last minute when Pete Doherty had a prolonged panic attack the night before in Camden. The van was unloaded with glassy eyed disappointment and the gig never rescheduled, the promise of something in the future with the Libs then seemed a far off horizon and a breakthrough elusive. Events that night seemed to take the wind from the sail of her band of the day, and they soon dissolved but it seems Gabi never stays down for long.

Although blessed with a huge lust for life, It's clear from her lyrics that this girl is no stranger to the world of those haunted by the "black dog" and songs such as 'Somebody like you' give vivid description to such episodes  " Riding my bike to the heart of the night, hard to believe I nearly gave up on life, the doing or dying not the moping and crying, endless conversations between the floored and the flying "  Gabi, daughter of a Chilean refugee is made of strong stuff though and disappointments were put aside as she relocated to a co-op on Golborne road out West, and looked for a new, fresh direction for her exceptional songs, Helped by her partner Dan Fatel and the multi instrumentalist Sean Read who has worked with such diverse figures as Dexy's midnight runners, the Manic street preachers and the Pretenders to name but a few. A new sound and more flexible band was hatched, Gabi Garbutt and the Illuminations entered the world.

The poetic verse we've come to expect from Gabi remained much the same but the songs now came with punchy, catchy choruses that anchor the songs to everyday life and championing the redemptive power of love. The slick rhythm section tends to include Stephen Gilchrist who some may recognise from Graham Coxton's band among others but this line-up is fluid, with Callum McQuattie on the album but Dan Fatel taking up the bass on a recent tour of England with legend Edwyn Collins, who alerted to Gabi's talent by Sean Read not only invited her on tour but offered access to his Highland studio for her to complete her debut album. Alec Sala from Martha Reeves and the Vandellas completed the brass section and Dexters Jimi Scandal ever present on lead guitar with his his inimitable style and catchy guitar lines mixed with ambient mastery and with Gabi of course, on rhythm.

Now adorned in glittering gold eye make up and eastern exotic tops, Gabi sparkles in the lights  like the elements in the songscapes, where symbols splash into lyrics “..the sky broke up the coast line in flashes of light, it's all burning and waving..." while the Brass section glows in the volatile, nocturnal forays where nature itself seems agitated into excitement by Gabi's passing, with lyrics veering like a modern, urban John Clare or John Dee - for poetry is ever present in these songs. The rivers and oceans seeming to represent both sunken sorrows and sanctity.

Gabi's journey takes us on wild bike rides to Autumnal places where there's "...a lake all draped in flames, with Angels bursting from the bronze and calling out our names..."  on to abandoned carousels, swooping on the wings of love for some slower, tender moments in 'Bright Tiger eyes' where the singer slings the guitar over her back to sing the lyric or in  'Tales from the undergrowth' with it's almost Velvet Underground simplicity of sound. Birds form a important part of the band's fully formed mythology, with Robins, Ravens and Pigeons, her "urchins of the sky" seemingly the winged avatars of a sense of hope and freedom ever present in these songs.

There is a fascination too with Barcelona and the style and duende of Southern Spain, with songs such as Lady Matador bringing it all home to Soho and a new one "Lady of Seville" penned with Libertine John Hassall for future release. This is not all exoticism though, far from it as so many songs buck the trendy to celebrate the mavericks, the down trodden and those about the streets of London who dare to be different in a world intent on harnessing all to the dreams of the few.

The Libertines honored their promise with a support slot on their seaside tour, which impressed the men of Albion sufficiently to invite the band on part of their European tour, supporting in the legendary Paris Olympia, with her name up in bright neon where the names of Piaf and Brel had once hung, and then on to Germany where Cologne, Munich and Berlin were introduced to her Illuminations. There may be some kind of collaboration with Pete Doherty in the pipeline too, loose plans were hatched in Berlin.

Irrepressible, Gabi's still up for the acoustic gig from time to time too, playing a different set in Dublin, Belfast and London recently. Among those songs you'll find "Never Never" a song inspired by both Vincent Van Gogh and Robert Quinne, the fractured guitar player of the Voidoids and also a unique paeon to childhood hero, puppeteer Jim Henson of Fraggle rock, Muppet and Labyrinth fame. As I write, the Illuminations are renting the airwaves on my radio, with the latest single "Heat of the machine" filling the room. The debut album "The discredited language of Angels" is now out in most formats and now I come to think about it, I really can't think of a better one this year. As one BBC6 DJ said the other day "this will be amongst the best new tunes you hear all day, all week and possibly even ever".

Steev Burgess ( lyricist with John Hassall and the April Rainers)

https://gabigarbutt.bandcamp.com/releases?fbclid=IwAR2lmpLvf_b2prbrsVxTjZIz10cigDwdZn0QvK5nY65yhaGz_d8K12hUYL8

#Gabi Garbutt #Gabi Garbutt and the Illuminations #Steev Burgess #The Libertines #John Hassall #Duende #Pete Doherty