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The things you don't notice, when you're busy and in the zone; once the Grinch could lift an entire town's worth of presents all alone. And yet he struggled to drag a box of metal parts; and it left him wheezing to dump that suspicious crate labelled 'hearts'. When he scratched at his mug, he wondered if he felt less fuzz - but he got distracted again, tending to the boat as the old bulbs buzz.
There's no mob to meet them when they land back on what's left of the dock; there's lights in buildings dotted here and there; humanity still has its rock. Survivors, picking through rubble. Look at all this, all for one man's trouble.
A girl in yellow comes running over on the third day, her goo arm gone, but that doesn't keep her away. Howard follows them both like a pale, wordless ghost; and perhaps it's silence that he needs the most. As they join people gathered by the half-standing town hall, Howard lingers at the side-lines, haunting them all.
The Grinch keeps an eye on him, and tries not to lose himself to the routine: of finding lost people, organising streets to clean. This is Angelique's world; her city afar she calls for aid. Nobody asks him for answers; nobody knows whose mess has been made.
"They'll blame some natural disaster, some science gone wrong. Maybe a storm," Angelique tells him with scorn. Like the dancing madness from long ago, this incident will go down as an unexplainable show.
If anyone deigns to look at records for proof, they'll find no Howard Plunketts in the Morose employee papers, in truth. Nobody can blame him, surely he'll come to no harm...
But his eerie, pale demeanour is failing to charm. People are whispering, as the world gets its bearings. And they aren't concerned about his health, but his failings. Angelique, too, is in hot water with folk. The Grinch is tired of all the pettiness, the slaving at the yolk.
"They want someone to blame," Howard whispers one night, and the Grinch is proud of how he hid his fright. The boy hadn't spoken in three days. They're in the Town Hall, Angelique's note and plans scattered around. Plans to rebuild, to bring back order and sound.
When the light catches his eyes, there's green and there's black. The Grinch stares at Howard, and something more than Howard stares back.
"Don't pretend that I am not here. There is nothing you need to fear."
"Howard," The Grinch murmurs, as loud as he dares. His own eyes have lost their golden-light glares.
"You come from somewhere far, pressed between pages, stuck like tar. I saw what you did, and what you undid. I saw a world where you kept going, did whatever you bid."
"Face the facts," The Grinch chides low, no cruelty, no harshness, but softening the blow, "wishing will grant you no gain. That kind of thing is what drove Morose - and Philip - insane."
The strange smugness in Howard's eye leaves swift, and un-mourned. Back is his unkempt charge, all quiet and forlorn. There's not enough in his skinny frame to contain, all of the...much-ness, that's now crammed into his brain.
As they all rest for the night; the Grinch worries still. That Howard will look at those other worlds, and reach to take his fill.
The next morning, Mr Grinch awakes, and finds Howard gone, but before panic overtakes - he finds some plums, left on the workbench. In the other room, there's sounds of a wrench.
Angelique is talking quietly, and he hears Howard murmur back. One day at a time. They don't need to keep track.
A lot of coming-of-age stories encourage 'leaving behind your childhood' and this often overlaps with characters rejection their 'dream worlds' or going through enough character development to willingly leave it behind. You go there only for a short time until you no longer need it. But in some stories like with 'Christopher Robin' and the epilogue to 'Labyrinth' It's emphasized that it's also important to remember that parts of your childhood will come with you. You don't stop loving the woods or past-times just because you got older. Things from your childhood are there to revisit. Not reject.
Howard's unique in that his childhood shaped the way he viewed the world more literally than most people, but he never uses it as an escape. In fact, his whole strength is that he accepts reality and life (perhaps a tad too much, 'Mr Creatively Bankrupt') so he's less in danger from typical story pitfalls like illusion and temptation. Philip and Thomas are characters more likely to fall for lotus eater type places and traps.
Though he is in denial about his inner feelings and thoughts - the whole side-quest with Knowhere is all about that - but emotional turmoil like that is more nebulous; Howard is much better with facts. I'm not saying he can't reject reality - he does, just in different ways than the likes of Philip and Morose, who are his narrative foils. He accepted his mother's death but not what it did to him, not the implication. He checked a box and moved on far too quickly, 'accepted' it too quickly. Didn't process it, while all Philip does is process his grief.
I'm just sayin' that if Howard fell into one of those 'lotus eater dream that gives ya everything you want' he would be 100% suspicious and causing trouble right away to get out. But if that dream was trying to make him do therapy he'd kick up a fuss.
human grinch is cursed. not happy with this design but I thought it was funny and I did promise to share. Couldn't decide if who!Howard should have a black 'fur dress' thingy to match his chair and keep with the 'two colors only' vibe, or brown. Personally I think design 2 works the best.
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the English dub of I am Frankelda has been out a while so I can ramble.
The handmade quality could be called 'amateur' to anybody who doesn't appreciate art, but like how Henry Selick refused to remove the lines on his stop motion character's faces where they switch out expressions, Frankelda is bold, artistic, much like old Disney where sequences and shorts exist just for the art. Just for the feeling. There's a bit in 'yo habΓa estado aquΓ' where a little blue figure spins around a red one and I can't explain why it hits me so well. It's chaotic, it's heartfelt, the pacing is so different from mainstream movies. I prefer the original Spanish songs, but the dub does a good job of staying true to the lyrics while adapting them into English.
But what I really wanna talk about?
Francisca, or Frankelda, is spirited out of her body astral-projection style, at first. But she and Herneval are trapped in the mind of the villain, forever, and her body...wakes up. The implication is that the Frankelda in the dream world is now the 'fictional' author avatar, and the 'original' Frankelda is back in the human world. Two separate people, splitting from one. Does she even realize what's happened? Does she know that her 'real' self woke up, and kept going TADC style, believing Herneval was just a dream, perhaps?
Is this exactly the kind of story my meta-loving self craved? Yes.
β so true . so true . β the voice agrees . β only philip was ready to be happy for you . β
hate him if you must , kid . he isn't the first in a while . the cat's words are sharp , but now , with what's at stake , there's no room for denial . this is all how it happened , whether he likes it or not . guilt is a mentor . shame's for the pot .
β but because it was philip , β his voice sneers a snarl . β the ' LESSER ' of the pair ... β
β or ... β he paused . β was something else going on there ? β
back to the dock , to where it all started . phil went aboard , said " hmph! " & departed . knowhere again , gives one more pause . as the boat sails from the harbor , you can hear the frown in his jaws .
β ... people treat you different , don't they kid ? like something's ... β he chooses his word . β ' non-standard ' about you . something there they can't rid . β
β tough break , ey ? but you're used to that by now . if anyone can take care of himself , howard's the know-how ! β
β but phil , hmm ... you kept him around . what made him different ? what made you so bound ? β
NOW he values him . NOW he regrets . was comradery even there ? or merely the sense of unpaid debts ?
That's the tricky part; they tell him he's odd; they tell him he speaks strangely, acts 'off' they laude! But Howard has never been able to understand what they mean. They might as well argue with him that the grass isn't green. He sees the world one way, but it doesn't see him.
"Phil didn't mind whatever was wrong with me. I made him happy. It was okay to...be." To be Howard, to not always wonder. To see the quirk of a smile, is the water above or under?
He wants nothing more than to sink deep below, but he's still got a job to do! He can't die until he meets his foe! His fingers grip the piling, trying to climb, but the water seems to cling to him, and it smells of camomile and pine.
"I did care. I did. It wasn't all just about what he could do for me. It wasn't even about him not being there, see. It was about the idea he would...leave."
And that once again he'd have to grieve. Not he'll grieve forever.
"Instead of strange, I tried to be special. When Phil showed me I wasn't, a horrible feeling started to nestle. But what happened to me wasn't his burden to bear. The tortoise was owed nothing from the hare."
When did it happen? When did the rot creep into his heart?
"Hmph, couldn't be me!" Howard, thinking of all the poor dolts who met their demise to the creatures. (He has been got by the creatures, he just gets resurrected and doesn't remember.)
When writing notes for my 'Howard was unwittingly created by Samantha' au (wild how I sum that up) with it's slight The Shadow Over Innsmouth ties, wherein the protagonist discovers that the horrifying, over-run-by-monster-people town is actually where his bloodline also originated, when he walked in thinking he was 100% normal)
Philip ends up being the POV a lot more. I found it a fun idea that the Ancient Ones, those Sneetch-like, multi-armed creatures from the city beneath GreatMaw, also speak in rhyme. When some unlucky scouts return from the elevator to hell, rambling about them, Philip notes it, thinks uncomfortably of Howard, but moves on. After all, lots of...mythical things have rhyme as part of their gig. Then there's the etchings, the old texts; one time he looks in the mirror and his reflection turns mean and ruthless, and it, too, speaks in rhyme.
Time-line wise, Philip is well into his second year as an apprentice as Samantha has made a miraculous recover - miraculous not being the word her poor 'volunteers' would use. The island operates on a very 'people know what they need to know' basis, and those who don't need to know about how far the Morose couple will bypass basic morals...don't. Or they're encouraged to ignore it. Such is the danger of echo champers and isolated communities; they can convince ya that carnivorous lamps and antler-men are normal. And the supernatural bleeds more and more into their daily lives.
And it's then that he's contacted by two amateur, freelance scientists from the outskirts of the mainland town he left; a Dr LaRue and Dr Guy. informing him of Howard's state. Somehow they know about Sam's well-kept secret illness and suspicious magical cure, and implore Phil to sneak them onto the Island so that Howard may also benefit from it. And thus, Howard is carried on shore, skinny, pale and bundled up, with Philip himself hiding him and his new colleagues in his dorm.
Mad research and clue-finding shenanigans pass in what could be their own point-and-click adventure game, and Philip discovers what Howard is. Howard, who keeps 'sleepwalking' towards those horrible plants, the tanks with the...things in them, the old carvings in the walls, and finally, the elevator. Philip is desperate to save him; but if he tries to face the old Gods, he'll go mad. All he can do is help Howard find the strength to meet his destiny, but it'll be hard to do so with Thomas and Sam getting suspicious...
Samantha had demanded the island give life and change. Whatever power exists below GreatMaw answered, in it's own monkey-paw, Genie-esq way. But the things below are whispering: he is ours. give him to us. And there are many who wouldn't see Howard as a person, but akin to the goo-men, or the creatures spat out by the body-copying plants. Thomas, especially, would see him as nothing but another of his wife's creations; a validation of her process to 'improve' humanity, and iteration to be studied and documented. Sam may either agree, or somewhat worse, view Howard as he 'perfect' creature she meant to create, heedless of the turmoil she's putting him through, how she refuses to see her sister's point of view.
Howard is of course, horrified by all these revelations, despite Philip, LaRue and guy's insistence that he is as real as they are. But the closer he gets to the beings that permitted his creation, the more he becomes like them. They promise eternal life, power, and above all, the ability to ascend in a way Thomas never could...but at the price of his humanity, his ability to perceive right from wrong on a mortal level.
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the cat only smiles , until howard starts to stumble . he lowers himself beside him as he speaks , all humble .
it was a good thing howard had sought out his friend into the fray . if there had been no one... things would have ended a different way . the cat knew what what he'd have to do , knew the weight of such a task . one's own life for the rest of the world is a heavy , heavy ask .
he presses his head against howard's as he looked down . little wonder , who's grand- human- courage he found . no one was left unscathed , that's trueβ but they deserved to survive .
oh , howard . he's so , so glad you made it out alive .
β ... not really , β the cat admits , softly . β back home it's quite tame . we've got our own troubles , but they're not quite the same . β
β speaking of which ... β he starts again with a wave of his hand . β now that ALL THAT'S over & you've been employedβ congrats by the way , i'm so overjoyed , β
he wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder , a little twinkle in his eye had returnedβ a sign of scheming happening , as anyone who's ever met the cat has learned .
β mayhaps it's too early or too sudden for you ... β he says . β but if i offered you to come visit , would you like to ? β
The memories are blurry, fragile things, plucked like music on strings, each note fading in and out. The Cat is tall and fuzzy, but his weight on Howard's head is welcome, if puzzle-y. He has a million questions, but he can sweep them under the rug. There's nothing wrong with choosing to enjoy a hug.
"I didn't say goodbye to you properly, all those years ago. I didn't tell you..." He'd thought they'd have always have another show. For once he can't find words, so he just hangs on tight; teary eyes peering from the tangle of the cat's arms, left and right.
Even if I'd failed, Cat, it wouldn't have been because of you. Don't you go and be guilty, too.
"They seemed catastrophic, when I was small. Nothing was worse than refused eggs, or scribbles on the wall." Wasn't there a fellow who fleeced people out of money? Even funny creatures can't escape salesmen, how funny.
But oh dear, he knows that look. His younger self had always been dramatic about his concerns; but saying 'you can't break the rules, Cat!' in false outrage had been part of the game, he decerns.
But he's smiling still, a pensive way, go to the place the Cat lives, you say? He's not going to ask how it can be done.
"As long as Phil doesn't worry, I'd say it'd be fun."
It occurs to me that Howard and Philip haven't discussed the whole 'little blue haired men' incident post-gold-ending because how on earth would that come up? But when Howard finally overhears him telling Angelique the tale, the math starts mathing, and he starts sweating.
It was true - Hawkbit was a complainer. Efrafa sounds like a terrifying place to live in. Stress and fear was never a good mix, it only causes him to become more snarky than he already is.
Maybe it was a good thing that he never met Woundwort personally. It would have been a death sentence for him - or worse. Unlike Pipkin, he was certain he wouldnβt leave unscathed.
Speaking of complaining, Hawkbit couldnβt hide another grumble as Bigwig hopped forward. Oh, well. Nothing he can do about it, so he decides to hop along. Better make sure they are truly leaving. This is way to close to the down.
Vervain suddenly stops.
As does his patrol, who start to stand on two legs and try to catch a scent.
Later, Bigwig will blame this on Hawkbit. Which is unfair.
He catches Vervain's piqued attention and starts moseying back, inch by inch, ears lay flat, nudging Hawkbit along.
They may need to lead this entire patrol away, instead of letting them pass by undetected. A time-consuming chore that Hawkbit was sure to hate - but necessary.
What he wouldn't give for Keehar to be on paw! Bigwig jerks his head to the left; where the grass is taller. Away from the warren, but better to hide. If they are followed, at least it'll be for a cause.
Did I rant about the second season of Green Eggs and Ham before?
How disappointment slowly crept up on me but I chided myself for being such a hater. How I noticed the animation felt less lush and how my excitement about Sam's past kinda deflated with the spy theme. How making Guy's emporium explode in the first episode cheapened a lot of the last season's finale. I know a lot of it is personal preference but a trap a lot of properties run into is when you go for things like a 'spy plot' the vibe, character beats and plot points are SO much easier to lose to the gimmick/tropes and the less it feels like it's own thing. That story could happen in any series. These conversations could happen in any series. And Guy and Sam's dynamic shifted drastically even though their screentime was so limited.
Now, I wasn't a hardcore 'Guy and Sam' shipper, but the first season had a lot of 'old married couple' jokes, I felt, only for the second to portray Sam as...younger, it feels like? And Guy referring to him as 'kid' for the first time felt odd. Did I just have a totally off reading on their characters and dynamic? Did Sam across more as a thirty-something conman more so in the first second than the twenty-four year old he was confirmed to be? He had dozens of warrants and secret identities. Felt like he'd been on the run for much longer.
All that aside, maybe I could get behind this switch-up. The first season was nuts but it stuck to the formula inspired by the book. The spy plot just felt so...what? And I remember folks had a lot of interesting theories on Sam's mother before it aired. I was getting a 'Meet the Robinsons' vibe where she simply couldn't afford to look after him and it was a hard, simple truth. Or perhaps she was even more of a criminal than he was. But 'his mom was a spy who HAD to give him up' just didn't...click. Do I need to re-watch it? Maybe a re-watch of it all, back to back, is needed.
Thing is, I love some of the scenes. The magical island where Sam and Pam hash it out felt much more in line with the surreal nature of the world. I thought her design and voice were cool, that her being seemingly cold towards Sam at first was a bold choice. Guy Junior was the singular most cutest thing ever. I am Goldilocks poking at my porridge, declaring it's 'not just right' and wondering why I am such a hater. I was invested about the green eggs and ham and sad old man porridge but not the toast with jelly on top or below.
Do I need a Dr Suess character to swoop in and lecture me on loosening up or was there an obvious tonal, narrative off-tuning going on for other folks too?
Now, Howard isn't really 'aware' that he's rhyming all the time exactly, as that would differentiate the fact that 'rhyme' isn't...the default standard way of talking. What do you mean most people don't have their words match up in sound?
But narratively (as with his one not-rhyming line being an exasperated one-off-joke) part of me has been itching to have an instance where Howard stops rhyming and it's...a harbinger of wrongness. He'd have to be VERY out of sorts for it to happen, probably in the bad ending verse either after or right before his final battle. If Philip's still kicking to witness him he starts thinking that yup, this is it, the world's really ending.
That, or Howard's been switched with a blood Howard. Better double check.
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There are a lot of stories with bleak, sad, or depressing endings, and some of them work, and some of them don't. You run the risk of having the entire plot feel pointless or contrived; the developers of TIODM were going to have the Philip Dies/Howard sacrifices himself ending be the 'canon' because it is, arguably, in the spirit of the dark and depressing 'humanity kind of sucks' vibe Lovecraftian and Gothic horror often has.
But in adding the golden ending you fight against the darkness plaguing the story and honestly, maybe it's just a personal thing, but I love 'earned' happy endings. I love stories that are dark, a grim, but there's some light at the end of the tunnel. Over maybe I just got weary of stories that had dark endings that seemed to think that's all you had to do to be profound. Without thinking if the character losing MEANS something, if it fits in the overall theme and plot.
My gripe with some media is that they misunderstand bittersweet endings. Kipo and the Age of Wonder Beasts is an out-there, off-topic example, but in the end it kills a villain who was developed and redeemed painstakingly over the entire show...and it did not feel impactful to me.
Would I have felt that way if Howard's death was the canon ending? No. I think having multiple options was very important to this kind of story, though, because each option is within his character depending on what road he CHOSE as a person to take. Yes, he was capable of losing his nerve and running. Yes, he was capable of failing to get to Philip in time. But there was also a small chance he could do it all. Sometimes having those other options be explored makes the 'golden' ending all sweeter.
I feel the same way about stories like Watership Down, where Bigwig was meant to die but after everything the characters have been through, the author changed his mind. (Looking at you too, Ice Age.) I wish creators understood that sometimes letting your flawed characters survive is just as brave as killing them off. Sometimes killing them off is actually more cowardly because you aren't committing to the realistically uncomfortable factor of actually having someone who did wrong continue to have to do the work to make amends.
But Howard is literally twisting the genre he's in, turning a cosmic horror into a Suess tale through his eyes, so. It's in character for him to beat the odds.
