The Fanfic Research Thread

[WebMistressGina]

So, after a three hour Wiki walk (thank you TV Tropes), I did discover that yes, the banana sketch counts and ugh, there was something else that did involve Gonzo - Oh! It was the act that Gonzo got booed off stage for, the one with the cow.

However I was thinking more of, let's say in terms of Ru's stories, why exactly Piggy has done community service, which is implied that she's done it more than once or like why Pepe always seems to be in a tutu for some unknown reason.

I did come up with a couple of ideas, such as an incident from Gonzo regarding a turkey, a parrot, and cobbler that has Scooter a bit unnerved and why Piggy thinks the term 'traffic stop' is uncalled for.

So I'm actually going to work on stuff that I was supposed to be doing earlier. **** you, Wikis!

 

[The Count]

Hey! Wikis are your friend. They have info you wouldn't have found otherwise... And sometimes they have none of the information you're looking for either.
BTW: Glad to know I'm not the only one who reads through the encyclopedic-lengthy TV Tropes articles on occasion.

*Needs inspiration for my own projects. *Awaits actually fic stories updates.

 

[Misskermie]

Is it bad that I don't know what wikis are?

 

[WebMistressGina]

Is it bad that I don't know what wikis are?

Yes.

No, I'm kidding. Technically, that could be considered a good thing as you probably use actual research when researching.

Anyway - a 'wiki' is basically an encyclopedic page that's done by the average person, or in our case, fans. Wikipedia is the best known wiki, with fan based wikis - such as the Muppet Wiki, Wookipedia, Memory Alpha, etc - that are pulled together by fans of the show/movie/book universe. They're basically helpful resources to find stuff.

It's also where the term 'wiki walk' (thank you again TV Tropes) comes from; it's essentially the phenomenon when, upon looking for a specific item, you find yourself looking up something completely irrelevant and have been for hours (usually resulting in you not getting any work done).

TV Tropes is the bane of my existence, as the Count I'm sure will tell you. It's a wiki that basically takes all of the standard fare of TV and movies and books (and even fan fiction) and lists them out for just about every show and movie ever. For example, the Noodle Incident is one of the terms coined by the site. As with Wikipedia, I go there to look up a specific thing; something that should only take maybe MAYBE fifteen, twenty minutes...

3 hours later, I've gone from the show I was initially reading about (like Scooby Doo) and have somehow landed on a page about a movie I've either never seen or never even heard of (like some foreign film) or worse, I'm on another TV show/movie that has absolutely nothing to do with the original thing I'm looking for.

This is exactly how I stumbled on the site in the first place and where three to five hours of my day went today. I don't even remember why I was there in the first place, however I was able to finally see those screen tests from the Muppet Movie, so some good came from it.

 

[Misskermie]

Oh. I heard there was a Muppet Wiki, but I never had time to click on it.

So, a Wiki is just an informational site set up by fans?

 

[The Count]

Kind of, yes. But because it's set up by fans, it tries to be the most in-depth version of such, with as much information on that particular fandom that you could find in one convenient place.

*Is guilty of Wiki walks in my own long-gestating project's research when I'm trying to sort out ideas and get them to not conflict with each other as well.

 

[Misskermie]

Ohh, ok. Thank you.

 

[newsmanfan]

#3. Is The Muppet Movie true?
By that I mean, is it a true story or a Hollywood true story? I ask because I've been thinking about it and while I believe - in my heart of hearts - it's a movie based on a true story, I think the movie itself is Hollywood true story.

#4. Are Muppet Studios on the same lot/adjacent to Muppet Theater?
I ask because of the new movie; see, I always thought the studio and the theater were in two different locations, but in Muppets 2011, at the very beginning when Walter has his inside Muppet Studio tour book, it looks like the theater is surrounded by the different attractions of the studios. I'm gonna watch it again and maybe screen shot it, but wanted to know if something was said shown that is different than this

#6. (last question, I swear!) Is Kermit and Piggy's house one story or two?
I mean the house they apparently shared in Muppets 2011. It looks kind two story on the outside, but inside it looks one story.

To #3: Yes. No. Sorta. I agree with others here who regard it as a sort-of-fictionalized account of how the Muppets started in show biz. Think of it as a highly simplified, some-parts-played-for-laughs version of the truth...which then does mean that Muppet Babies never actually happened. But eh, like Ed said, nothing is really canon except the characters' personalities!

To #4: The original Muppet Theatre, where the show was filmed, was portrayed IN the show (though never directly identified as such) as being somewhere in NYC. (Note the number of New Yawkers or Joisey guys, such as Rizzo, but a few others had similar accents, and a number of jokes revolved around NYC locations -- I seem to recall Statler and Waldorf having a few of those.) Now, this could just as easily have been the Muppets on a SET of an old vaudeville house in NYC ACTUALLY located in LA...but why complicate things? I personally think they went to Hollywood, got into films, but then wound up taking over the run-down theatre in NY as a fallback...but again, do whatever you want with the premise.

To #6: If we accept that the shot of the house from the front gate IS the house, then yes...two-story with an attic, a classic Storybook Bungalow from the looks of it. (I personally was delighted that Kermit's office at the studio was a Storybook style, as there really WAS a famous example of the fad erected in Hollywood which eventually became the office for a studio producer on the lot of a movie studio...art imitates life imitates art...) Remember, we only saw a couple of rooms INSIDE K&P's house in the movie (which were actually filmed at a completely different location!)...so again, one has to wonder, IF we accept this as canon, would Kermit have really filmed inside his own home for a movie? Doubtful, given his craving for privacy! Perhaps the "real thing" looks similar, though.

Play with all of it. Some of us accept the Muppet Boarding House, some prefer NYC and the theatre, some like the crew in LA making movies nonstop. Do what you want -- the Muppets themselves always do!
----------------

 

[WebMistressGina]

To #3: Yes. No. Sorta. I agree with others here who regard it as a sort-of-fictionalized account of how the Muppets started in show biz. Think of it as a highly simplified, some-parts-played-for-laughs version of the truth...which then does mean that Muppet Babies never actually happened. But eh, like Ed said, nothing is really canon except the characters' personalities!

I think once I saw the movie again as an adolescent/adult, it was more of a "this is the Hollywood version of how they met" and not the "this is how the Muppets met" that I recalled from seeing it as a toddler/kid.

The thought occurred to me again as an adult when I realized that, if Muppet wiki is true and that Scooter was about 14 when he started working on the Muppet Show, there could be no way he was the Mayhem's band manager, unless his uncle managed to get him that job too.

To #4: The original Muppet Theatre, where the show was filmed, was portrayed IN the show (though never directly identified as such) as being somewhere in NYC. (Note the number of New Yawkers or Joisey guys, such as Rizzo, but a few others had similar accents, and a number of jokes revolved around NYC locations -- I seem to recall Statler and Waldorf having a few of those.) Now, this could just as easily have been the Muppets on a SET of an old vaudeville house in NYC ACTUALLY located in LA...but why complicate things? I personally think they went to Hollywood,got into films, but then wound up taking over the run-down theatre in NY as a fallback...but again, do whatever you want with the premise.

Huh. Really? I've actually never noticed, other than Rizzo. Now, with that said, I grew up with movies first and then was introduced to the TV show (once I was old enough to watch and it's probably the only time I've been right that a character from one show got a spinoff on another show).

Was it always like that or did that happen around the time that Rizzo was introduced? I had always assumed that they had met Rizzo while in NYC for MTM, of course only discovering recently (like this month) that Rizzo was actually on the show (the same is true for Uncle Deadly, who I thought was introduced like Walter was)

To #6: If we accept that the shot of the house from the front gate IS the house, then yes...two-story with an attic, a classic Storybook Bungalow from the looks of it. Remember, we only saw a couple of rooms INSIDE K&P's house in the movie.

I went with Spanish style and I think that was a case of art imitating my art. From the distance when Gary, Mary, and Walter are looking through the gate, it look around one or two story, I thought, hence why I couldn't decipher. With that said, Spanish housing kinda does make sense, especially on the West coast where we have a lot of Native American and Mexican influence in terms of housing and street naming (I'm from Arizona), so that made sense to me.

Play with all of it. Some of us accept the Muppet Boarding House, some prefer NYC and the theatre, some like the crew in LA making movies nonstop. Do what you want -- the Muppets themselves always do! ----------------

You'll be happy to know that, not only did I work on the thing I wanted to first post here, but I managed to get started on something else I wanted to post. The second thing was kinda a fluke because it was a sad passage for another wise happy story and then I said, hey. This would be perfect for that sad story I have. Brilliant!

Thanks everyone fer yer help!

 

[charlietheowl]

What's the policy on giving characters last names in stories? I'm writing a short fic for my series where Nigel (the TMS one) needs to say his full name to someone, so is the default last name for a "monster" Frackle or can I make one up?