#combining two of my favorite things- starkid and lists

[pinazee]

Home Alone 2 casting call - starkid edition

Mariah as Kevin

Angela as Harry

Jon as Marv

Kim as Mrs. McCallister

Corey as Mr. McCallister

James as Mr. Hector (aka tim curry)

Joey as Cedric

Bryce as pigeon lady

Dylan as Mr. Duncan

Curt as Buzz

Lauren as that kid that wets the bed

[jackie-talks-about-starkid]

A Very Potter Senior Year (Rewatch #6, 10/15/2020)

YouTube publish date: March 15, 2013 

Number of views on date of rewatch: 1,515,813

Original Performance Run: August 11, 2012 at Chicago’s LeakyCon

Ticket price: the cost of a LeakyCon 2013 pass

Director: Matt Lang and Nick Lang

Music and Lyrics: Clark Baxtresser, AJ Holmes, Pierce Siebers, and Darren Criss

Book: Brain Holden, Matt Lang, and Nick Lang

Cast album price and availability: $14.99 on the StarKid store for digital download (x)

     Release date: December 15, 2012

Parody or original: third installment of a parody series

Main cast and characters

Harry - Darren Criss

Ron - Joey Richter

Hermione - Meredith Stepien

Draco - Lauren Lopez

Gilderoy Lockhart - AJ Holmes

Voldemort - Joe Walker

Ginny - Jamie Lyn Beatty

Musical numbers

  Act I

“This Is The End” Characters: Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and Ensemble

“Senior Year” Characters: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny

“Wizard of the Year” Characters: Lockhart and Ensemble

“Always Dance” Characters: Tom Riddle, Dumbledore, and the Slytherins

“When You Have to Go All the Way Home” Characters: Lucius and Bellatrix

“Get in My Mouth” Characters: Aragog and Ensemble

“Tonight This School is Mine” Characters: Harry and Draco

“I Was” Characters: Harry and Tom Riddle

  Act II

“Sidekick” Characters: Ron

“Everything Ends” Characters: James, Lily, Sirius, Lupin, Snape, and Cedric

“Goin’ Back to Hogwarts” Characters: Harry, Ron, McGonagall, and Company

“Harry Freakin’ Potter” Characters: Harry and Company

“Days of Summer” Characters: Company

“Goin’ Back to Hogwarts (Finale)” Characters: Harry

Notable Notes:

In this production, Luna was played by Evanna Lynch, the actress who portrayed Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films!

For this production, StarKid created a song and artwork contest in which the song winners would have a song performed in the actual production. One of the entries for the song portion of the contest was won by Robert Manion, who was later featured in Twisted and most recently played The Professor in The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musical (x)

Darren’s body mic did not work during the filming of the production, so all of his vocals and dialogue had to be pulled from other mics on stage (x)

Cultural Context: 2012/early 2013

Instagram become the popular new app for photo sharing

In February 2013, Beyoncé performed at the Super Bowl

‘The Harlem Shake’ was a popular video challenge

‘The Fierce Five’, Aly, Gabby, Kyla, Jordyn, and McKayla, all win gold for the US at the 2012 Summer Olympics

KONY 2012 happened

Marissa Mayer becomes the first pregnant Fortune 500 CEO

Content Analysis:

A Very Potter Senior Year is StarKid’s most interesting meta-musical regarding fandom. StarKid’s first published musical A Very Potter Musical, originally called ‘Harry Potter: The Musical’, was a work of musical comedy parody lovingly created by fans of the Harry Potter franchise for other fans that in a short amount of time created its own fandom for StarKid that continues to grow to this day. A Very Potter Senior Year is a fan-made production made by a theatre company for the sake of fulfilling their own fannish desires while also fulfilling the fannish desires of the fandom that they created for themselves from their original fanworks. That is a sentence that can only apply to StarKid. How often does a fanmade work gain such popularity, let alone one that uses theatre as its medium? And how often does an entire theatrical company, rather than an individual theatrical production, gain a loyal fandom through their own works? Through a combination of accessibility and dedication to fan culture and theatre, StarKid has created and fulfilled a very specific niche that has brought so much joy to so many people. AVPSY is StarKid’s thank you/love letter to the fans that have allowed their success to happen. It is a work that is comprised entirely of book-specific and movie-specific Harry Potter references (because, as any HP fan knows, they are different beings) and StarKid-specific references that any audience member who has not participated within the StarKid fandom would not understand, which makes this work incredibly special for the audience that it was intended for. The cast is composed of just about every StarKid actor associated with the company, whether or not they were involved in the first two Harry Potter musical parodies, making the show just as much of an homage to the team itself than it is to their Potter musical series alone, and they even managed to get an actual actor from the Harry Potter movies to reprise her role in this actual production?! If that doesn’t speak to the cultural weight of fandom and its power to bring people together, then I don’t know what does. 

This production has all of the elements expected of a traditional StarKid show, with on-point performances, funny and entertaining dialogue, a handmade production quality that increases the humanity of the company, and a heartfelt message lying underneath the outlandishness and occasional vulgarity. Watching actors step back into the roles that gained them so much popularity and that obviously have so much sentimental value to them makes their impact so much stronger-Draco’s mere presence remains a laugh riot, Ron’s lines are funnier (and his long-awaited solo was so incredible!), Ginny’s increased role in the plot is more substantial, and Harry’s character development is more multidimensional, but in a way that solidifies rather than takes away from the intended warm and comedic tone of the show. Meredith Stepien stood out for obvious reasons, as she was the only actor in the company who played a character that another person originated, but as a fan and an audience member who rewatched this production with a more critical eye than usual, I felt like her performance was outstanding and one of the best in the show. Her performance as Hermione felt like one that honored the character’s relationship to the fans while also making the transition between Grueson’s performance to Stepien’s own practically seamless, once a joke about the change in performer was made early on in the show. Personally, I could not be more happy to add Meredith to the list of talented actors who have played one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. StarKid’s Hermione is a very difficult character to play because she fulfills many different roles in the StarKid Potter musical universe itself and to the fans-not only does she have to honor Rowling’s intentions with Hermione’s original character, lest fans take offence to the parody, but she has to establish herself as her own character who is often the butt of a joke, a core character for the plot’s resolution, and the main leading woman of a musical comedy, which comes with its own set of narrative and performative responsibilities. Stepien did an incredible job and I’m really glad that she got to shine more as a leading character once StarKid produced Firebringer. Her stage presence and comedic performance are, in a word, lovely. @ StarKid please give her more roles, thank you

As far as the rest of the company goes, Chris Allen is the unsung hero of A Very Potter Senior Year, playing Barty Crouch Jr., Moaning Myrtle, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tom Riddle Sr. It is generally expected of any StarKid performer that in any given production they are going to play more than one character, and one of StarKid’s defining traits is the comedic flexibility of the performers, but Allen in particular stole every scene that he was in, no matter how brief it was. And AJ Holmes! He played Gilderoy Lockhart perfectly! The only thing that I do not appreciate about his performance is that he doesn’t act enough in StarKid shows. I know he was busy writing music for their shows and he’s busy now being successful in the greater commercialized theatre world but I find it personally offensive that he doesn’t act in StarKid more. Gilderoy’s Mouse Monologue™ is one of the funniest scenes in the show and needs to be performed more for national monologue competitions and comedic auditions because the writing alone does not get enough credit, but no one can ever live up to how Holmes took over the stage with that scene.

Overall, A Very Potter Senior Year was a beautiful wrap-up for the musical fandom-within-a-fandom-made-by-fans. Even through a screen and watching the performance seven years later, I can feel the love and joy radiating from the actors and the unseen audience through my laptop screen and have never been more grateful that StarKid still to this day ensures that their work can be viewed by as many people as possible.

[hard-boiled-criminal]

PM: Complete General Information

Hello dear Readers! This chapter is some background information/context about the reader/MC (or whatever you want to call the reader that is gonna be in the story) and the contents of the story. Some of it is necessary, some of it is not. I might end up repeating myself sometimes, sorry about that. Please read parts c, e, and f. They are marked below and are the most important things you should read in this chapter.

This was created in order to inform the readers ahead of time what things they can expect to see so they can see if anything listed here may keep them from enjoying the story. I want this story to feel safe and inclusive for everyone.

Please remember that this is a story. Suspend your disbelief.

1.       Table of contents for the topics that will be discussed in this chapter. I’ve bolded the most important ones that I would suggest reading.

a.       Short Summary of All the Topics Listed Below

b.       Modern Witchcraft in Our World That is Used in This Work

c.       What Will and Will Not Be Specified About the Reader

d.       Reasons for Specifying and Not Specifying Certain Traits

e.       Important Aspects That Cannot Be Removed

                                                               i.      Please Read this one to see if any of these aspects may make you uncomfortable. The purpose of this is so that nobody will have dedicated time to reading this work, only to have to stop due to a major aspect or plot point making them uncomfortable.

f.        Warnings for General/Common Triggers That Appear in This Work and Mental Disorders the Reader Will Exhibit

2.       Extra Information Unrelated/ Vaguely Related to the Story

a.       About Reposting and Plagiarizing Other’s Works

b.       Extended Information About Previous Sections/Words with an Asterisk (*) Indicator

A. Short Summary of All the Topics Listed Below

              Do not attempt any of the spells or witchcraft mentioned without doing the proper research first. Most physical descriptors about the reader-character are unspecified, along with other traits, their gender, and their pronouns. It is up to you to imagine what the reader looks like. Some of these decisions about traits have specific reasons. There are certain aspects that cannot be removed, but they are partially flexible in a sense. There are some common triggers that will appear in this work, please check what they are.

B. Modern Witchcraft in Our World That is Used in This Work

Whether you believe in witchcraft or not, or if it really works is up to you, I'm not writing this fan-fiction to turn people into witches. (Also, I use the term witch as a gender-neutral title.) I bring this up because many of the spells the reader uses, and other methods of witchcraft are based off of what I believe to be real spells and rituals and the like. Many of the reader’s practices of magick can be found by researching them. If you would like to know the exact sources for my knowledge, contact me, and I can provide an online source or two. Do not attempt these spells or practices without doing the proper research first, as well as learning how to protect yourself. I am not going to be reckless and put out any spells I consider to be on the more dangerous side. It is for this reason that I am establishing that the reader is a beginner witch (or ‘baby witch’ as some may call them), so that I can reasonably have the reader have limited knowledge on witchcraft, and therefore limited knowledge on spells and the like. Practice witchcraft at your own risk. Leave your pride and ego at the door. Be reasonable and be safe.

C. What Will and Will Not Be Specified About the Reader

·       Unspecified

o   Sex (as in what the scientific male and/or female body parts they have)

o   Gender/gender identity

o   Ethnicity/race

o   Details about the reader’s skin (e.g. color, dry, oily, soft, rough, etc.)

o   Anything about the reader’s hair (color, type, texture, etc.)

o   Body shape and weight

o   Eye color

o   Romantic and sexual orientation

o   Religious beliefs and the like (this will never even come up)

o   There will be next to no specific physical descriptors

·       Specified

o   Reader is under 6’0”/183cm (or is at least shorter than Malleus)

o   Reader practices some mild/beginner Witchcraft (like spell jars, for example.)

o   The reader likes to sleep. They don’t appreciate being woken up.

o   The reader is at least somewhat romantically interested in boys

o   The reader is an adult. The exact age is up to you, but the reader is at least 18 years old.

D. Reasons for Specifying and Not Specifying Certain Traits

·       I want to keep any physical descriptors as vague as possible so that everyone can comfortably immerse themselves in this work.

·       I won’t say anything regarding hair because there’s so many different kinds and combinations of hair, some people don’t have hair, and some people may wear an article like a hijab.

·       Religion is absolutely never going to come up or be mentioned in the story, so don’t worry about that.

·       The reader is under 6’0” simply because I want to be able to specify some of the characters being much taller than the reader, but the reader will not be given a specific height.

·       The reader being a witch is kind of a huge part of the plot for this fic, so…

·       If you don’t like sleep, I don’t know how to react.

·       I will not budge on the age of the reader in regard to romantic scenes. No adult x minor here.

E. Important Aspects That Cannot Be Removed

              Any underlined text in this section signifies an aspect that absolutely cannot be changed. Everything else in this section is flexible and can be changed if wished.

If any of these points have something that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know and I will attempt to find a word-around to the best of my ability.

If the reader ever refers to themselves in third person (It is extremely unlikely this will happen), they will use they/them/their(s) pronouns.

There will be a notifier/warning before any scene with actual romantic content so that if you don’t like the specific character, you can easily skip it. As of now, romance scenes will not directly affect the plot.

No smut will be present in this work.

The reader is uncomfortable to an unspecified degree at the prospect of having to attend an all-boys school. The reason for this comfortability is unspecified and can be anything you wish (Some possible examples: the reader does not identify as male, the reader is not heterosexual and/or hetero-romantic, the reader has female organs/body parts in the scientific sense, the reader doesn't feel safe being surrounded by men (especially men who can whip out fireballs whenever they desire), etc.).

Since Night Raven College is an all-boys school, the other characters will assume the reader is a male and will use masculine pronouns when referring to them in the beginning, but this will change as the story goes along. When a character learns the reader's reason for being uncomfortable, they will immediately switch to using they/them pronouns for the reader ( I will use "(raison d'être)*" as the fill-in space for the reader’s reason for being uncomfortable). If those are not the pronouns you use/are uncomfortable with them, I apologize. The main reasons for this switch in pronouns are: 1) to be inclusive no matter anyone’s gender or identity. 2) signify a change in relationship, to signify that this character knows the (raison d’être), which can be helpful to keep track of which characters know and which don’t without having to look through different chapters to remind yourself. 3) to show that the character is trying to be respectful and considerate of the reader, not wanting to assume anything else about them.

The reader does not want anybody they don’t trust to know their (raison d’être). The reason for why they don’t want anyone to know is up to you. Every reason is valid, no matter how it seems like. Whether you or others regard it as a big reason or little reason does not matter. Any reason at all is okay.

The (raison d’être) causes the reader to try to fit in in a way that doesn't garner suspicion to the best of their ability when around people who don’t know the (raison d’être). I believe that the reader character would not want others to suspect that they are attracted to men, because they know that some people may then avoid them and/or ignore them simply because the reader is attracted to men while going to an all-boys school. (I’m not actually going to make any of the characters act like this. I put this reason in because I know that there are some shitty people out there who will immediately break friendships once they learn someone’s sexuality. I think that the reader would fear this possibility since they know it happens back on Earth. Maybe it has happened to them before.) This done for various other reasons as well: in order to fit in better, not garner suspicion, to prevent others from getting to curious—which could lead to them learning the (raison d’être) before the reader is ready to tell them—and so on and so forth. I’m assuming that if you’re reading this fic, you wanna romance some boys, meaning you'll be in a school full of pretty boys.

The reader is at least somewhat attracted to monster-like/inhuman features some of the characters have, like horns or fangs and such. How much of a monsterfucker the reader is depends on you. (I am very much a monsterfucker with naga/nagas being my favorite.)

The reader knows Disney stuff. They are quite familiar with Disney and they are definitely going to be singing some Disney songs sometime. I won’t just copy and paste all the lyrics to certain songs. It’ll most be just a mention that the reader starts humming or singing a certain song, or they emphasized a certain line of lyrics for some reason.

Reader is a fan of Starkid and their musical Twisted. I highly recommend it. You can find the whole performance on youtube. You might know Starkid from one of their most famous works: A Very Potter Musical.

Reader is from this Earth. Our Earth. The one you’re living on irl. Or at least an Earth that is nearly identical. Like so identical that the only difference is that someone coughed at 12:04 on a certain day but on the other Earth that person coughed at 12:03.

        F. Warnings for General/Common Triggers That Appear in This Work and Mental Disorders the Reader Will Exhibit

·       Triggers/Content Warnings

o   Nothing super prevalent yet. Please DM me any triggers you have if you’d like me to know them. That way I can place a warning if it ever comes up.

·       Mental Disorders

o    (These are based on what I have because I feel most confident in my works if it feels genuine. The best way to make characters feel genuine and like real people is to base things off of personal experience. Especially since this is a reader insert, I’ll end up slipping in these traits without even realizing it, so I think it’s best to incorporate them anyways.)

§  Social Anxiety Disorder—I’ve had this disorder for the majority of my life, so my writing reflects that because I don’t really know how to write otherwise. So the reader will have social anxiety. There will be instances where the reader will spiral.

§  Depression—there will be hints of depression paired with social anxiety sometimes.

§  Some aspects of ADHD, like the need to fidget with something or thoughts bouncing from place to place.

  Extra Information Unrelated/ Vaguely Related to the Story

Reader is a witch— as in modern Earth’s version of a witch: making spell jars and sigils, not the flashy kaboom magic where they’re hurling fireballs around or like the magic in Harry Potter. I'm sorry, but the reader won't be able to yeet wands out of others' hands.

I use ‘y’know’ instead of ‘yanno’ when I write.

Will Mothman make an appearance? Who knows? Maybe if I feel like it, he’ll show up.

Uh…spoilers. There’s gonna be spoilers for the main storyline of Twisted Wonderland. And also the Disney villains I guess?

Will the reader be the founder of fantasy OSHA? Because if it exists, it's clear that Crowley doesn't believe in it.

  About Reposting and Plagiarizing Other’s Works

Do not plagiarize anyone's work. Never plagiarize. Always cite your sources. If you plagiarize or fail to give proper citations, you can face serious repercussions. Some years back, a college student plagiarized a scholarly work on the subject of music and got away with it for years. They were found out many years later when a student at my college was using the original work and the other person's plagiarized work as sources for a project. This eventually lead to the plagiarizer having his college degree rescinded among other consequences. As you get older, the repercussions for plagiarism only get more severe.

Extended Information About Previous Sections/Words with an Asterisk (*) Indicator

*I know that 'raison d'etre' means 'reason of being/ purpose of existence.' Think of this 'raison d'etre' as being shorthand for 'Raison d’être mal à l’aise,' which means 'reason for being uncomfortable.'

[thegmdfangirl14]

Inspiration list for the Tale of the Horned girl and the Ghost Lord

(This is probably the randomest thing you're going to see today, or at least one of them, so bear with me.) This is everything that influenced me so far with the writing of my Betrayus x Oc story!

-  Disney's Enchanted: Okay, this gave me a huge love of the whole "unconventional fairytale" genre(and kickstarted my love for trope defying stuff), and Giselle partially inspired Valerie's character( the things they have in common:they both have red hair, and are far too good for all the crap they have to go through), and that scene where she fall through the well and ends up in the real world definitely inspired Valerie's entrance to the Netherworld.....

-Starkid's Twisted(the untold story of a royal Vizier): This influenced me heavily in terms of writing the story(one of the songs is on three of the playlists I created), and who could blame me? It gives a lot of character to one of Disney's best villains that also justifies his actions (I'm a sucker for villain backstories, especially ones that add on more character), perfectly balances hilarious moments with heartbreaking ones, and has one of the best musical love songs I've ever heard(*cough cough* Thousand and one nights *cough*

-Labyrinth: What can I say? Even if Sarah's a bit of a dislikeable protagonist(but she gets a bit better near the end), the seriously fantastical and slightly creepy nature of the Labyrinth itself is part of my reference for the Netherworld. And Sara sort of works as reference for a flawed protagonist.... And who can forget the legend himself: David Bowie(aka Jereth), who was put a little into mind when I was writing about Betrayus(I mean damn... the man oozes charm and dangerous elegance....)….

-Wicked(the musical): Yet another great villain musical, and it was one of the fist I discovered! Also, Glinda's serving as my inspiration for how I'm going to further Eli's character(yeah she'll be in the fic too, but I'm hoping to fix her a bit)……

-@anti-cosmofangirl All of her pmatga stuff served as references for how I see each character in my head(and damn. It's good stuff.), and immediately got me thinking about the world and how to build it up.....

-The Disney twisted tales series(multiple authors): Hmm... taking something that's well known and loved, adding a little twist to it(what if Aladdin never found the lamp), and then building from there? Sounds good to me! This series adds character to those who didn't have much before, expands on the known world, and is pretty dark while staying true to the original material! I mean, it's almost like it's a perfect idea to write a story in they style of this....*wink wink* And it's amazing reference for when I'm trying to develop Bet's character, and future reference for President Spheros…..

-Valerie and her week of Wonders: This is an obscure little 1970's Chzek fantasy horror film, which is pretty awesome in itself, and served as where I came up with Valerie's name!(She was almost called Emily, but I changed my mind at the last minute, due to remembering this film) The film features a teenage girl named Valerie who encounters all sorts of strange and otherworldly creatures, all after putting on a pair of magic earrings, and the fairy-tale like tone inspired Valerie's love of stories(the film is based off of little red riding hood, and Alice in wonderland.), because this film was inspired by them after all.....

-Valiant by Holly Black: Protagonist is named Valerie in this one too(and actually shares a lot of Valerie's qualities, such as stubbornness and the such), and I came up with Valerie's nickname: "Lady Valiant" from the same book!(Although it was a variation on a different nickname in the book) And it's a great dark modern fairytale too!

-Anna and the Apocalypse: The best Christmas Horror Musical Teen Comedy I've ever seen!(or probably will see, due to the weird word combinations) A lot of the songs influenced scenes I've written(Turning my life around, Break away), and still more have influenced scenes I haven't written as of yet....(Nothing's going to stop me now, I will believe, Give them a show)

-Ectoplasm Hearts(a pmatga fanfic)- Very good stuff for writing about Betrayus, and Pinky!(I ship Pinkster, so this is good!)

- The School for good and Evil series by Soman Chainani: Introduced me to the concept that people are more than they appear, and that what's good and evil isn't always as simple as seeing what someone's like on the outside…. Also, the two protagonists: Sophie and Agatha, each inspired Valerie in their turn....(but mostly Agatha)

-Princess Jellyfish(manga/anime): This is my favorite unconventional romance, and the scenes between Tsukimi and Kuranosuke are amazing romance inspiration for Betrayus and Valerie!     (Here's a link to the anime, sorry if the audio's bad, but the manga's better reference) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0MthVxMZU0t72XjA8AGSflEp4-xn1y1Z

- A winter's promise by Christelle Dabos: Amazing fantasy novel, and the world-building's top notch!

-Disney's Maleficent: Hey, did you know that Maleficent inspired Valerie a bit?

-Rat Queens(graphic novel series): Gave me my love of bad-ass woman characters, and Hannah was my primary inspiration for Valerie, as you can see from the prologue.....

-Repo! The genetic opera: Shiloh's a great reference for Eli's character.....

-The court of thorns and Roses series(Sarah J. Maas): Starts off as a dark beauty and the beast story, than completely gets turned on its head in book two following a major plot twist.... Also, Feyre and Rhyshand are great romantic inspiration for Betrayus and Valerie(Rhys has some of Bet's qualities, and Feyre shares a lot with Valerie....)!

And that's all I can think of! (There's probably more, but it'd take me forever to list them all)

Hope you liked! : )