Fufunchis plushies: How it started.... Am I a Rat... or Am I a Muppet? Reflections about love and acceptance

Candid tribute to the Muppets with fufunchis and their plushie alter egos... After they became Steemfest popular and several enquiries about their background story... This is how it all started. And even if now that the rats are gone and only the muppets are left... this is not a sad story but a little reflection of tolerance, acceptance and enduring love. Because love comes in all sizes and shapes. Love is all!

Lyrics were adapted to be more ratty

I think they're good for all kind of existential crisis :)

This is not my original song but a cover from The Muppets... It was nothing but a simple tribute and a candid fun excercise but after SF3 and so many asking about "Fufunchis" background story, I decided to share this. Even though I prefer the Muppets from Jim Henson (pre-Disney) era, this song featured in the 2011 movie hit a heart string and I changed the lyrics to fit my ratties and did this candid version a while back on youtube with them (and their plushies). This post about embracing to be different. PD. I made the muppet voices too but there as choir at the end that was actually made recording their squeaks and making vst synths out of their own voices. That is the kind of geeky thing I only usually know but well.

I reflect in my reflection
And I ask myself the question
what's the right direction to go?
I don't know...
if I'm a rat or am I a muppet?
If I'm a Muppet then I'm a very ratty muppet
or am I a Muppet? or am I a rat?
if I'm a rat that makes me a muppet of a rat
I look into these eyes
I can't recognize
the one I see inside
It's time for me to decide
if I'm a rat... or am I a Muppet?
or am I Muppet?
or am I rat?
That's what I am

So yes, rather humorous but not devoid from a deeper meaning :). I guess that's the philosophy behind most Henson's creations( I grew up with his work).
I even made an original song "No matter what they say" featuring my rats that was entitled No matter what they say to reinforce this message... I shared it on Steemit a while back. Warning, videoclip plagued with many many cute ratties too.

https://steemit.com/dsound/@yidneth/20180515t231708752z-priscilla-hernandez-no-matter-what-they-say-original-song-what-is-rare-is-precious

Remember what is rare... is precious!

What is this post about?

Well this is all related with enquiries about me going with 3 rat plushies to Steemfest... in case you missed the Epic Chronicles of "Fufunchis" partying hard at Steemfest here:

• https://steemit.com/steemfest/@yidneth/fufunchis-adventures-at-steemfest-3-recap

They became SF famous hahah but they have been travelers for a while :) to other venues as well.

There I explain how fun it was also for me to send real time all the updates to some fellow friends on discord that couldn't attend...
They had fun.. I did... and that it's the whole point of it :)

That's what I am

That's the most important line in the song I guess...

As some of you know my work is rather dark and ominous, ethereal and spectral... most of the time it has a very serious undertone... but some of you attendees of SF have probably unveiled I'm a bit of a "muppet" myself. Forever a "Jim Henson's generation" girl, geeky, tad bit unconventional and as much as I am unsure about so many things, I also know I'm quite proud of myself just because of allowing myself to be who I really am and pursue my dreams in art and music. I'm not a mainstream artist and never have intended to be. My fellow musician friends usually nickname me "The Fraggle Princess". That should settle it. I'm very determined and very serious about my work but I also has an eccentric side that I repressed and denied for too long untill I accepted it and unleashed it. So yes, I dress with pointy hats, green pixie layers and I made "Fantasy" a way of living and creating art through my music and illustrations. And yes I'm a grown up woman, precisely to decide how I want to be. If only I was coherent with what I love.

We must learn not to take ourselves always so seriously ;-)

Even if you are very serious about what you do and why you do it :)
It only takes a little curve in your lips to kindle a smile... You know how to ignite it

And remember, It doesn't matter how much you think you know...
Keep wondering about things...
Allow yourself to be bewildered...

You taught me more I could ever dare to think
the truth of simple things
(Fufunchis Lullaby)

So why did I start to do it?

Sunday hike with "fufunchis"

I could explain how I studied Genetic Egineering for 8 years but refused to hurt an animal and how I ended up putting my degree away in a drawer and being devoted to animals,and rats, instead... but that would be too rational and long... Just think how many lives they have saved. But the reason is simpler.

They were fun, It's fun... I smile remembering, I love to make others laugh... that was their "superpower" and they continue to inspire and heal with a smile... Soul healers and the power of three... we're talking about a very powerful thing. Never underestimate the power of a honest true smile.

Thanks Hive account@martibis for the app to do this hahah :)

For me my animals (all my "companions") have been my friends and soul healers... and there is not a single day I honour and remember them. In many ways they are all responsible of me becoming an artist (especially my dog Kira) and they all played an important role in what I know about "love" and they all inspired me to be a better person and pursue my happiness

Fufunchis

Ritva (Birch Branch, white), Tuula (wind, brown) and Taika (spell, grey) were their names and they are in countless references now in my songs (usually referred as "The Wind, the Birch Branch and the Spell" (rather poetic, huh?). Sometimes there are Easter Eggs in my videos and a "rat" appears here and there. My listeners usually send me fan art of me with them even to this day... they live on in my love for them. So this is NOT a SAD story.
They never failed to make me still, not even now :)

Silver branches of slender birches in the breeze
then a sudden gust of wind rustles so playfully in their leaves
and It's humming softly the magic words
of the spell I am under
(Lyrics of my song Sentinel)

Find the Easter Egg... I mean Tuula the Rat in "Haunted"

By the way I will transfer 1 Steem if someone finds the rat in the following video I premier last Halloween. I have revealed this to a couple of people, so you can't participate! haah you know who you are... But if you are perfectly clueless and want to give it a try...

So 1 Steem to the first one spotting it (don't cheat, some of you were already told by me but I knooooowww)

And for those of you not understanding why, or why I like them, or whatever... just telling you that is also ok
as Hive account@meno says we can agree to disagree
But at the end everything is brought down to tolerate and respect our differences because they are also what makes us unique...

and love...

Love is all that matters

So next time I plague you with a rat meme on discord instead of using an emoji, now you know why!