There you go, you see - my gut instincts are about as reliable as my memory.
Have you seen "The Journal" (it was on Nicktoons recently - probably won't come up again for a few months)? Or what about the episode that might have been called "Parents' Day" - it's all mega important to my story. I'm not going to push you into reading it, but I'm still on the lookout for someone. As I say, the surprises won't work on my brother.
Are you a shipper? I don't think in all my Internet surfing I've come across a fan who isn't a shipper. It's the deepest and most gripping love story I've ever come across - far more than either of the ships in EGB, even Ed/Ky, if you can believe that of me.
Whoa - hang on. Did you say HA/RGB crossover? Tell me more!!!
(Well, obviously a HA/EGB crossover is a far better idea, but I've a feeling I won't find a convert in you, Joker.
)
Yeah, so anyway, have you seen the movie that did get made? Everyone says the same: extended episode. That is so true. Originally (you may already know this) that movie was supposed to be a 3-part episode to finish off the final season. It was much publicised that Helga, at last, would confess her love to Arnold.
Well, they made the movie, and she confessed. Fans everywhere were on the edge of the seats. Finally - this was what the entire series had been building up to!! She poured her little heart out on the roof of a big corporate office block. Arnold was understandably taken aback, but then he realised he had something like 20 minutes to rush home and save his neighbourhood from being torn down. So they took a speeding bus, the driver got knocked out and Arnold's best friend (age 9) had to drive the thing back to the neighbourhood, and they saved the day in the nick of time. Hooray! (Honestly, this gives nothing away - it is sooooooo predictable.)
But what of Arnold and Helga? There they are, left alone together. And what do they do?? They take a huge step back!! "You don't really love me, do you? …You actually hate me, don't you?" She screams something along the lines of, "Of course I hate you", and then they walk off in different directions. AAAH! Every single fan of the show was left slack-jawed and thoroughly deflated. (I think Fritz knows how this makes me feel - I believe he experienced something similar with Egon and Janine at the start of EGB.)
But it's ok, creator Craig Bartlett assures us. They'll still be together: I'm just gonna make the three episodes the last season lost to the Nick flick, and then I'll make another movie. This hypothetical movie is referred to among fans as "The Jungle Movie", it's been scripted, we think we know more or less what'll happen: Arnold will be reunited with his missing parents and fall into Helga Pataki's arms. Perfect. But now, because the world is such an unjust place, there's some political reason or something why the movie will not be made!
I know it's easy to be wise after the event, but I do feel kinda let down by Craig Bartlett. He should have stuck with the plan, or at least taken the A/H ship somewhere after the movie. Countless fans have written their own versions of The Jungle Movie, but I'm doing something a bit more original. The basic obvious ideas are still there, though - we all know what we need for closure.
Whoa - sorry - got carried away there. Anyway, I've read a few HA stories on ff.net - I don't think I've read that one - I'll have a look at it. Thanks for the recommendation, Joker.
And hey, if there's one thing I'm not, it's faint-hearted. I've read some pretty mad stuff on ff.net - I've only ever been shocked once, by a graphic scene of child abuse on a central character by her parents (that was a Hey Arnold fic actually - Big Bob and Helga, and when Miriam found out she shot Bob... dead). But I guess I'm prepared now even for that.