#npmd meta

[disregardcanon]

stephanie lauter digging her heels in and saying "i'm not talking to cops without a lawyer present". like c'mon she's solomon lauter's daughter that's probably the 3rd thing she learned growing up. like she learned how to use the toilet she learned her abcs then she learned to say "i want my LAWYER!"

[t4tozier]

i find it fascinating that grace chastity specifically picks ruth to do the tech and richie to film because we know that ruth is the techie for hatchetfield high’s theatre department and based on richie’s enthusiasm he’s very passionate about film/making videos (special interest maybe??) like they’ve supposedly never really interacted before now but grace somehow knew enough about the two of them to say okay you want to be involved here’s the thing i know you’re good at go do it

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

I’m not super active in Starkid internet circles so idk if this is something that’s been talked abt before/anyone else’s theory/a common theory etc but.

I rewatched NPMD last night (the proshot is GORGEOUS) and developed something of a. crack theory? Actual theory? I’m not sure anymore. It could be both.

One of the lines in Dirty Girl sung by Max is “I am expecting you to be-betray me” which is a really interesting line on its own in the context of the rest of the play. It’s foreshadowing, it’s innocuously set in the middle of a sexy song, it’s wholly overlooked as Grace drools over fantasy!Max’s crucifix. But… why is it even there? What’s the point of that line in GRACE’S FANTASY? Why would her fantasy of Max expect her to betray him?

My theory. My theory is that it’s not really HER fantasy at all. Or… it is, but it’s complicated.

The whole musical, the entire power struggle with Max dying in the Waylon house eventually leading to Grace taking up her holy crusade to kill all dirty dudes using the Black Book and invoking the Lords in Black, only happens because Grace sets it all in motion. Because she gets horny, and engages with a fantasy of Max who appears to her and tells her… that he’s expecting her to betray him.

All I’m saying is that I wouldn’t put it past the Lords in Black to somehow be able to engage with the waking world (or NOT the waking world— Grace specifically opens her eyes when her dad knocks on her door at the end of Dirty Girl, if I remember correctly, like she was fantasising or DREAMING with her eyes closed) and beam a vision/dream/what-have-you of Max Jaegerman directly into Grace’s head in order to fuck with her and set THEIR plans into motion.

[thejagermeister]

one of the saddest lines in npmd to me is "who will pray for me / when i'm gone / or is this the eternal dark without a dawn"

because i wholeheartedly believe that entire segment is max projecting on richie. richie is a nerd, therefore no one will miss him. except that's verifiably false— what about ruth, peter, the football team who became his friends?

meanwhile, after max died... everyone rejoiced. no one misses him. he is completely forgotten. so he starts his revenge plot, killing the nerds that caused his death.

it's not only that, though. the wording of "eternal dark without a dawn" implies that whatever sort of afterlife max is experiencing as a ghost isn't good. sure, he gets to be powerful and get his revenge, but... without a dawn? without hope? without rest?

even if he did achieve his goal, i don't think max would have ever been happy as a ghost.

[akicklineisinevitable]

something about Hatchetfield is so Hadestown coded. something about how it's a sad tale, but we sing it anyway. as if it will turn out this time. (i'll find you in the next timeline). something about how not everyone can make it out, and those that do don't make it out unchanged. something about love that was doomed from the start (wait for me? i will) (when you shipped out, i thought i'd wait for you). something about how the scenery changes, but the stories are the same. something about it was a world of gods and men (there are monsters and there are men).

[jetsteeleyourheart]

Hatchetfield Meta Head-cannon: Bill used the Black Book to become Solomon Lauter the Mayor of Hatchetfield

For this scenario we are absolutely gonna ignore that hot minute that Alice and mayor Solomon appear at the same time during Killer Track*

Hear me out: After the events of Watcher World, Bill realized there was some freaky shit going on in Hatchetfield, but he also wanted a way for him and his daughter to be close again. He learned about the black book and used it to give him the money and ability to keep Alice safe.

The power? Become the mayor.

What does he want? Keep Alice safe and have her live with him instead.

What does he give up?

Well, whats the most important thing in the world to Bill? The time spent with his daughter

Bill and Solomon Lauter are the same person. Solomon has all of his old memories, so he remembers the cost of the book. The best way Bill can keep Alice safe is if he doesn't care about her the most of any person, and the same for her. Bill/Solomon has to keep his distance and also make sure that he is not what Alice/Steph cares about most. It doesn't work though, because Max (and his super sense for Nerds) sees Solomon for who he really is: Dorky, musical loving Bill the dad.

Similarly, Alice is now Stephanie Lauter, with no memory of being Alice. She has a similar overall personality, and isn't into the normal popular girl fair (frankly, its interesting she's even considered popular, as she seem perfectly happy to buck all norms). The one big clue they may be the same? The obsession over the phone:

At Watcher World, Alice was glued to her phone and the big tipping point was Bill dropping it off the roller coaster - it literally caused them to almost kill each other. Alice was constantly watching her phone. In Watcher World. Who is influenced heavily by Blinky.

Then later in NPMD, we see that Steph has an unhealthy attachment to her phone, but we don't really understand why beyond the "haha kids today, am I right?"

Solomon even goes so far as to try and smash it with a hammer, and is only stopped when Steph literally places her hand in the way. This scene parallels so hard with the scene in Watcher World where Bill is playing the hammer game and has visions of smashing Alice's head with the big hammer, as he isn't able to win her a Blinky Doll.

I really want to know what's on that phone that is so important to Steph, because she mentions pictures and contacts but never why they are so important to her. I think part of it is Blinky's subtle influence, but what if there's more than just that - what if she has photos she doesn't remember: photos of when she and Bill were a family and they looked happy?

TLDR: Bill Woodward used the black book to change his daughter's fate, making them into Solomon and Steph Lauter, and in doing so lost what was most precious to him: Steph's memories of their happiness as father and daughter

[milsandmoors]

Maybe another time bugette 🤝 she's not as hot as she uses to be 🤝 yeah ... I don't want to though...

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

Do you guys ever think about how Matt Lang was a senior in college when they did AVPM, which means he started at UMich in Fall of 2005? And how when the Langs had to pick the most important year in the history of Hatchetfield, the year in which so much of the overarching plot has its roots, they (likely by coincidence) went with the year Matt arrived on campus and Starkid's origins started to form?

[basilpaste]

people have been talking about the use of vocal technique to inform characters emotions recently because of glinda in wicked and it is making me think things.

now. okay. ive heard a lot of people say that they dont really like graces voice in nerdy prudes must die. which is totally fair, if its not your thing its not your thing. but. ive also heard people say that its just because angela 'doesnt have a very strong singing voice'.

which. i mean. compared to some of the crazy female vocalists in starkid, maybe her voice isnt the strongest! however: this isnt the first starkid show angela has had a major role in.

lex has a significantly fuller tone in black friday than grace does in npmd. its got more weight to it and its inspired at least vaguely by pop punk.

so. uh. anyhow. comparatively, graces voice is a little more scattered. shes a very high strung character and i am absolutely 100% sure that angela does her voice the way she does on purpose.

i think graces voice aligns pretty directly with if shes doing what she wants or not. because her voice drops to a much fuller tone in her songs twice throughout the show: in dirty girl and dirty dudes must die.

in dirty girl shes letting herself fantasize. because she does, actually, have a thing for max. so her tone in their imaginary duet reflects that. she lets herself get caught in the idea of it.

in dirty dudes must die, shes fully embraced her role as a vessel for the lords in black. she likes the power the black book has given her. she wants to shape the world, or at least hatchetfield, to her liking.

[v0id-of-thought]

One of my favorite part of Nerdy Prudes is that it forces you to rectify the extreme cringyness of Ruth and Richie with the awfulness of their endings.

Every time Richie says some weeb shit I want to crawl out of my skin, he and Ruth give me SO much secondhand embarrassment. But despite the comedy, they exist as people who are more than those traits.

Ruth wants to be seen and heard, she’s touch-starved, she’s tired of living in the shadows. Even her unabashed hornyness is just an extension of how lonely she is. She died on a stage, literally in the spotlight she set up herself after singing a song that wasn’t about her to an empty audience. Just For Once is a game of dissection on how much of this is Ruth and how much is the character she’s playing.

Richie finally befriends the kids that were bullying him, he finally feels like he belongs somewhere. I mean the kid is the school mascot for christs sake- the faceless school assigned furry that cheers on the athletes and represents the district. The ultimate symbol of belonging to something without actually being a part of it. Then he gets killed in the locker rooms without ever getting the chance to experience any of what he strived for.

It strikes me that although the tone with which the characters are presented is lighthearted and exaggerated, their deaths are nothing but horrific. It’s as though the show is beckoning at you to come and laugh with the bullys only to reframe with the nerds right after it’s too late for them.

[inevitablemoment]

Hatchetfield 🤝 Springfield

Small town ending in "field," corrupt mayor, lawyer that caters to the rich and has an inexplicable New York accent, a squeaky-voiced teen that seems to have every single job, a sea captain that talks like an extra from the version of Treasure Island that starred Bobby Driscoll, and a seemingly picture-perfect fundie family (the Chasitys and the Flandereses).

[disregardcanon]

i love the blurry lautski in the background while grace has her little existential crisis on the ground before solomon finds them. like they body language on it is so so so good. pete just hesitantly pointing to steph even though there's no way grace is looking. he's so uncomfortable and steph is so tired. also pete trying half-heartedly to comfort her, steph saying DON'T SHE'S FUCKIN WEIRD and then. immediately comforting her in a much more practiced and competent manner than pete. i just-

[t4tozier]

trans richie lipschitz who purposely tricks jagerman into doing flick it tickets since he doesn’t have balls to flick

[gaiaxygang]

ben has 92738273 issues but if you look at him from the angle of 1. abusive/neglectful and homophobic dad, 2. low empathy and self centered (tied to 1), 3. perfectionist out of desire to be liked and accepted (tied to 1 and 2), a lot of it starts to kind of click. to me at least

[thejagermeister]

something that i never caught near the end of "literal monster" possibly because my attention is always on will branner's vocals is that max sings directly to the audience:

You all look disappointed You couldn't do if you wanted So keep on judgin' me That comes with infamy You can leave, but you won't Stay in your seat

i don't think any other character in the show sings as explicitly to the audience as max does here. not only does he sing to them, he claims to see them— knowing they're in theatre seats, seeing their facial expressions!

this combined with other moments (him yelling "SHUT UP!" at the applause and stage lights darkening during his monologue at pasqualli's, slamming the doors before richie can escape him after his death) not only backs up his god complex with a tangible "power," but maybe even hints at a connection to pokey...?

[akicklineisinevitable]

no actually i call Paul the final girl a lot but Steph is too. especially with NPMD being a sendup of teen slashers, Steph just ticks all the boxes for the Final Girl Trope. she's a tomboy, she's popular but not a Mean Girl, she even follows the Scream rules: (on stage) she doesn't drink, do drugs, have sex, or say she'll Be Right Back. you know who does break those rules? Max, who enters the Waylon place drunk, and promptly dies. who has sex with Grace and dies again. and yeah she's not the ONLY survivor but like, neither was Sidney Prescott. ik im reading way too into this but with how the Hatchetfield shows emphasise and play with narrative roles i feel like it has to be intentional