#sfth theory

[8pandacakes]

The Unrelenting Beetroot Milkman Grain Mill extended universe explained

@mikesflaccidlemonade7 has asked for heavy detail and thus I will provide because now I know at least one other person wants to hear this rant.

Okay so the extended sfth universe style fic I'm working on takes place at a village farmers market due to the amount of farm and artisanal goods adjacent characters there are in the sfth universe. Unrelenting aubergine, Beetroots and murder, The milkman, Marigolds bluebells and Hugh, Hare who wore a sweater, Hobnob affair, Grape depression, etc. This mainly concerns the first 3 (+ now the Grain mill scene).

Also bare in mind we're playing fast and loose with the timeline here. Obviously, Beetroots and murder is already connected to the grain mill scene through Jack being an Andre beetroot fan. Even though "child labor laws won't be invented for another hundred years" doesn't line up with the 1950's (if we believe andre beetroot) or 1980's (if we go off when CCTV would first be used in commercial security systems). Thats even before you throw the other plays into the mix with the release dates of the iPhone Max (2018) and PS5 (2020).

For the sake of the fic I designated Beetroots and murder as happening in the 1990's airing more on the CCTV side. Andre beetroot was an old washed up 1950's show host who now gets work judging beetroot competitions and is a tad dementia ridden so he still thinks it's the 50's. It even still makes sense for the kids to be fans of his because their parents would watch reruns of the show for nostalgia so often (A common thread I've heard among kids from the 80's/90's citing older shows like I love Lucy and Mash as household favorites). While the fic takes place in the 2020 covidless present.

That makes Richard (Big Dick) and Justin Willaby Trouble around 50 (Still younger than Margeary) in the present. "18 year old farmer you were" back in the 1990's, and 5ish years post prison ("im 45"). Jack/Titch is a respectable late 30's ("im only 7" in 1990), a tragic age to lose your 'adopted' father, adult enough to be independent, young enough to still be figuring some stuff out especially when you prioritize work over love. Extrapolate for Derek and James to be in their 30's too.

Before I became infected with the headcanon that Titch is Jack from the grain mill scene, who later got adopted by Jame's dad when Larry was imprisoned for killing Tony the milkman and his wife, the main crux of the fic was Titch and Derek realizing everyone else at the farmers market were a couple except them (this take place pre Unrelenting Aubergine). Richard & Justin, Jemima & David, Hugh & Inga, etc. Pining ensues.

NOW THOUGH!!! I need to see Peter "That's a family trade" Steven interact with Jack/Titch. Like Titch was born to a farmer, adopted by a farmer, and became a farmer just like his dad. Peter was the result of a love affair with a milkman the thing that took Jack's birth parents away from him. The parallels!

Was David's dad Tony the Milkman? You know "That's dad he's dead" because Larry fricking shot him. If not I bet he works for the same milkman service there's likely a picture of him around and older milkmen who remember him.

Imagine the angst potential now. Titch walking in on James watching some dumb cable show on TV and it's 'Ooos your dad?'. Derek making an innocent greek mythology joke and Titch snaps at him harshly for seemingly no reason.

Don't even get me started on my theory that Derek from the Unrelenting Aubgergine is the child of Derek and Tracy from Susan's holiday, and due to all of Tracy's cheating she named him after her husband in the hopes he was the real dad. (Stevie and Susan are good aunt and uncle through so he grew up fine).

So yeah, excuse me while I go rewrite some interactions between characters thanks to this new information. I hope this makes as much sense on paper as it does in my head.

This is way too much backstory for simple improvised characters but they live rent free in my head and i'm going insane!!! I also love the fics where later Derek and Titch adopt Johnny and Janae from neighbors under the bed and I think all this parental angst would play well in there too if I ever found time to write it.

Also don't get me started (again) on how if you go off the timeline of he 7-0 loss Johnny and Janae's parents were teens when Johnny was born. Okay I'll see myself out.

[phantombegruvia]

in your post about sorry about my nan you mentioned a theory about how all the shows link together

my friend and i have been amateurly finding silly links between shows so i’d love to hear your theory ❤️❤️❤️

(feel free to ramble)

Ohmygoshhhh, okayokayokay, this will be a very ramble-y post so RAGH

This is my theory/headcanon about how the Astral Plane could be the thing that links [at least some of the] longforms together, especially the supernatural themed ones.

But first, I want to point out that magic has always existed in the SFTH-verse. This is seen in the existence of witches; Old Lady Margaery, the witches in Moist & Magical, The Dark Moons of Slough and for the sake of this theory I'm going to say that Miss Twiliger (Green Leaves on a Summer's Day) is also a witch.

There are also two types of witch;

"immortal" witches - however they can be killed (OLM)

What I call "generational" witches - witches whose powers get passed down from generation to generation (Moist & Magical)

Miss Twiliger is both. She's lived a very long time (but this is mostly because of her feeding on youth), and some of her abilities passed down to her son.

Flaschem Naschem is also an example of magic that has existed for a long time - Marigolds, Bluebells and Hugh is set in the 1870s. Maybe Margaery, or another witch, created the Bluebell King?

So, yes, magic has always existed in the SFTH-verse, but I don't believe that magic can just be created, it needs to come from somewhere;

The Astral Plane - the place where spirits rest. Where the supernatural is the natural.

The witches have some sort of connection to the Astral Plane, giving them their powers. And for the longest time, only biologically human females could access the Plane. That is, until Jasper was given his grandmother's abilities.

For the longest time, the supernatural was kept within the confines of the Astral Plane, only the witches being able to access the smallest fraction of the Plane. Only beings made of magic are able to see into it, but even then, they can only do so through death (The Grape Depression).

That is until the wall that separated the Astral Plane and the Human Plane was broken.

The Xavier family (The Leftenmost Window), following my definition, are technically witches, and generational ones at that. They, out of everyone I've mentioned so far, have the strongest connection to the Astral Plane so far. It was their story where the Astral Plane was introduced. The Xaviers physically went into it, we saw it happen once, but we know that the mother had gone into the Astral Plane at least once before - at the end of the Boer War.

This caused the wall between Planes to begin to fracture, and for it to further break when both Samantha and her mother went into the Astral Plane. This therefore caused holes in reality to form, allowing the supernatural to creep into the Human Plane, and the non-connected to see (and sometimes enter) the Astral Plane.

Holes can be torn when a pilot goes too fast, and causes him to be stuck in the Astral Plane (The Pilot's Final Flight). Maybe a haberdasher sees the ghost of his old bosses daughter (The Meringue Haberdashery). Maybe a young boy discovers a hole in his wall leading to one of the Astral Plane's most sinister inhabitants (Strange Noises From The Hole In The Wall). Maybe the Astral Plane also serves as a prison for the most devious of phantoms (The Phantom of Hornchurch). Maybe the Astral Plane was the home of a little girl of extraordinary powers (She Came From Beyond). Two friends forced to trial their friendship in some sort of twisted performance on a stage where death isn't permanent (Sorry About My Nan).

The Astral Plane could also have different names; The Beyond, Hell, maybe even The Vault.

Overtime, the inhabitants of the Human Realm learn to control the Astral Plane, even without being connected to it. Mary invented time [astral] penetration (Murders in Space). An aspiring TV presenter could have gotten his hands on this technology - going back in time to a time where television was first taking off, making it easier to become a host (Beetroots & Murder), maybe experimenting with it more and going forward in time a little, and continuing to be a competition host (Burglary & Bobsledding), maybe he accidentally travelled to a different timeline, where the Xaviers never intervened with the first world war, and found himself in Germany, 1916 (Ballet on the Battlefield). Maybe André Beetroot is connected to the Astral Plane more than we know.

Okay, I want to go back to the witches now, I couldn't find a suitable place to out this bit so I'm putting it here. A lot of people headcanon that the football family in The Neighbour's Under The Bed are related to the Xaviers. But I raise you this, what if they are related to Jasper (And Mr. Rumple (Priscilla's Final Petal))? I already said that Jasper was the one to break the mould and allow biologically male humans to also be connected to the Astral Plane. And, as I said, Jasper is a generational witch, his powers gets passed down to his ancestors - but what if it weakens as generations pass? What if Rumple caused their bloodlines connection to dim when he banished Annabelle?

Anyway, TLDR; everything is connected through the Astral Plane, the Xaviers are witches and accidentally caused all the horrors™, all of SFTH's horrors™ are originally from the Astral Plane and André Beetroot is our favourite camp time traveller.

Thank you for reading if you did and let me know if you have any questions :)

[aa0n]

I thought about a theory while trying to sleep last night so I rewatched Sorry about my nan to see if it fitted and oh my god. So welcome in:

Sorry about my nan: The bad ending

First of all, there’s one important thing to clarify: What is the game about? Ethel described it as a way to free oneself from their fear, doubts and social morals, it made people greater than they were before - so we know she's done this with other people - and it changed their life. We know it’s a “friendship test”, we could expect it to be a “bonding exercise” like Jamie says, a way to make their friendship stronger, but let’s take a look to the trials:

The sword fight which the guys passed when Jim said they had to fight each other. That’s one for not a bonding exercise.

The letter of complaint about their friendship. This one is pretty obvious, the german cabaret guy even says “a relationship has gotten in the way”.

Jim confronting Lucie. This one is the one I struggled with, but I think I have a clear explanation now. The two first tests were for the two of them, an afrontment, now it’s just Jim and he passes when he says “of course I believe him, he’s my best friend”. Why in this one he passes when he proves his friendship? What changed? Jamie. To me, the tests were never about their friendship, but about Jim’s perception of Jamie. If they had to kill each other during the sword fight, it means that Jamie was a threat for Jim, if his fiance hitted on Jamie and he kept it to himself, it means he’s a potential rival. When Jamie tells him something, he believes him because Jim is a good friend. Jamie is not. The whole thing is about changing Jim’s perception of reality, show him the truth of the world, just like Ethel said before they started.

And Jamie happened to be in the way.

The theory first started from one thing: Jamie's is not at the wedding when the longform ends. In fact, we don't see him come back from germany. My initial thought was that he was still stuck in the bachelor party. That would make sense because when Wilhelm says "you've passed the test", he's talking to Jim. He's the one who prioritizes his friendship over his relationship, who followed the rules of the game. The only character (beside maybe Big Jim Clive) that doesn’t approve of Ethel and doesn’t call her “life changing” is Jamie. Jim enters her game pretty easily, he goes through the tunnel first, he attacks Jamie and he’s the first to say a word during the letter of complaint. 

That would mean that Jamie didn’t “pass the test” so what happened to him? For this part I’m taking inspiration from @phantombegruvia, if you haven’t read their analysis post, I recommend it. They say that Wilhelm and the German cabaret guy (I’m calling them the workers) are stuck in the game just like Jamie and Jim, hence lines like “sweet release” when Wilhelm dies and “we’ve been doing this for a long time”. I think you know where I’m going with this, Jamie is not at the wedding because he became a worker. But I’d like to come back to what is to me the most important scene for this theory: the scene right before the third trial, when Jamie takes interest in the workers, even asks who the cabaret guy is. But the sentence that truly disturbs me is:

A friend? Like someone like him, who took the same path. If Ethel has done the show before and if it keeps on going without ever ending, if the workers are trapped and this worker knows Jamie will join them soon, that means he’s been at his place before, he played the game.

So when the wedding happens, Jamie may have become one of them, but not one of Ethel adorator. It’s important to separate the two because to me it’s clear that the ones that work in the cabaret are not part of her cult. People in the cult adore Ethel, they’ve built a statue for her (btw I think they could be the audience, that would explain why they love her so much, she entertains them), that doesn’t seem to be the case for the workers, they seem distressed. 

SO we have two categories: the “workers”, like Wilhelm and Cabaret guy, stuck and forced to live the bachelor party’s trials over and over again, the one Jamie probably joined before the wedding, and the adorators, members of Ethel’s cult, that worship her and qualify her as “life changing”.

Now, to the wedding. Ethel calls the wedding “her big day”. Not because it’s her wedding, but because it’s the day her cult grows bigger. We learn that Julie/Lucie also had her bachelorette party with Jim’s nan, and what did she say it was? Life changing, once again. Jim and Lucie probably went through the same thing and they are now part of the second category, they are in the cult.

And the ultimate proof:

I think it’s pretty clear that Luke went for the “Lucie is part of the cult” idea and maybe he wanted Jim to realise and freak out or something? I can’t say, but that’s also why I wanted to post this before the qna, we’ll maybe have more insights!! Thanks for reading all of this. I slightly lost my mind while writing it so don’t take any of that seriously but it was fun! Also English is not my first language, I’m sorry if some stuff were not clear.

[corporealchaos]

I currently have a few longforms to catch up on because school has been crazy, so I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that the fanfic tags/descriptions for Sorry About My Nan are WILD out of context:

Anyway, I will obviously be reading all of these once I have time to watch the longform.

[pandoraaudaxfanart]

Theory time :D

wait I might be wrong here… but in Moist and Magical, Sam says there is a site for local single witches in the area. However, Luke says that's not for him because he is a boy. All witches are female. BUT. If there is a dating site... for witches... wouldn't that mean that all witches (using that site) would be queer?

[bewilderednobody]

About CDIYW: Clarissa asks Amanda how many generations her ring has been in her family for. We know that is Luke talking about Tom's wedding ring, but it adds an interesting dynamic to Clamanda's relationship. Amanda, married, potentially unhappily/doing what she thought was expected, and in love with her best friend Clarissa who is about to get married

[youling-the-ghost]

If I had a nickel for every time I became attached to a British guy who's quite tall and whose name is Tom, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

[sw33t-transv3stit3]

Thoughts About ‘Never Give Annabelle a Gun’

- Sometimes Butch was so awkward I got second-hand embarrassment, but I managed to power through it. I typically struggle with awkward characters/scenes, but the only one that really got me was the interrogation scene.

- Either way, she was adorable and shy and I loved her. I also love the idea of a character literally named ‘Butch’ not realizing she’s a lesbian. I really thought Annabelle was going to be the one struggling with her identity (She did, but not as much as Butch)

- We love a butch lesbian in six inch heeled cowboy boots w/ spurs. Truly a fashion icon.

- Tom was really determined to make happy lesbians. (Maybe Jeremy Jambalaya is Butch’s brother or something? I kind of wish he’d been included in the story.)

- For some reason I’ve always loved it when Luke plays women with cartoonish American accent, like Clarissa and Annabelle. He just nails the accents and mannerisms

- Henry is an amazing villain; he might be one of my new favorites. I’ve always said that AJ has a real talent for playing genuinely creepy and threatening characters; Henry’s obsession with Annabelle and treating her like his property, along the predatory nature of his affections for her (she’s an 18 year old. he’s an officer of the law with authority over her in more ways than one, implying he’s much older than she is). The musical motif was great as well. (AJ has a great singing voice)

- The bar scenes were hilarious- I loved Luke, who was obviously Not trying to play a woman, getting turned into the bartender’s daughter by Sam. (My theory is that Sam misheard Luke saying ‘Danny’ as ‘Daddy’ and ran with it)

- Tom’s Lurch-esque piano player is my new favorite side character. His melancholy aura captivated me. I also loved Tom subtly ribbing Sam for forgetting his name was Tim and calling him Arthur

- The pantomime bank robbery combined with AJ’s glorious singing felt like something I would see in a musical. It truly highlights their skills; it awesome to see how they all understood each other and what AJ wanted to do and shifted the scene accordingly. (Sam and Tom shenanigans were also funny to watch. Thank you to the subtitlers otherwise I would’ve been lost.)

- The helium voices were a great callback all throughout the show, and I loved how AJ incorporated it into the interrogation scene. (The continuity with the stolen helium and the stolen pig was great as well)

- Tom trying to justify coming up with the helium pig was hilarious, and also how Luke just broke as soon as he said it, then proceeded to double down on it. (To me, that’s the true spirit of improve: saying something you instantly regret, and watching in horror as everyone else runs with it)

- Speaking on continuity, the stolen shoe was a great plot point that tied things up real nice

- Sam as Mr. Parker reminded me of Mr. Wilson and also the American Tourist from No! I Always Loved That Caravan. Also, I thought at the beginning that Sam was implying Annabelle killed her mother the last time she got a gun, so the lesbian mother arc came out of left field for me.

- We love to see a she/he/they lesbian. The ‘give it time’ line made me lose it, respectfully. (Speaking as someone who rode the ‘she/her lesbian’ to ‘he/him trans man’ to ‘they/them whatever’ pipeline)

- I’m always a sucker for ‘prophecies coming true but not in the way that the character imagined’ trope, so the fact that Butch kind of ended up being the ‘girl with a gun’ was very fun.

- Loved the magic bullet that went into Henry’s hip, bounced around his rib cage, went into his jaw, and came out of his head. (JFK reference? In my SFTH play?? More likely than you think!)

- ‘That goddamn motherfucker took my tie!’ also broke me

- Butch finally coming to terms with her sexuality and realizing there’s a word for people like her made me very happy.

- Another parallel to Clarissa’s DIY Wedding: Mr. Parker just kinda…standing there…reminded me of Father Petrova interrupting the wedding, insulting Peter, and then squatting down to watch.

- Foot-J, a new addition to the AJCU: Alexander Jeremy Cinematic Universe

- Two Kisses? ¿En está económica? ¡Es imposible!

- When I first watched it live, because I had paused the premiere briefly to talk to a friend, the premiere ended before I was done watching, so I missed the kisses at the end. I ALSO happened to miss Sam’s joke about quick fingers at the end, so when I rewatched it I was, for lack of a better word, flabbergasted.

Sorry this was so long, I had a lot of thoughts. This was such a good long form, even beyond the obvious win of a happy lesbian couple. It is 100% going in my comfort list along with The Unrelenting Aubergine and Clarissa’s DIY Wedding.

[mentalsstuff]

I was snooping around in the sfth patreon and I realized we're all just big nerds arent we

like everyone in this fandom is so so sweet but also just so theoretical about the longforms and the individual characters and how the different timelines all fit together and what would happen if characters from different timelines would meet and what their life would be like years later

and I just feel like if we were all in one classroom together, we would be giving tedtalks to eachother about our theories

like imagine us all just nerding out together, wouldnt that be great

[xkaleza]

i think that every sfth longform is somebodies favourite play, like that one pokemon theory, and i will stand by that because I havent been proven wrong so far

[friendofthesharks]

SFTH as things my high school physics teacher said

I unearthed the quote book my friends and I made while suffering through physics with the weirdest man on the planet as our teacher so…here you go I guess?

AJ: Why am I having deja vu? Or maybe it’s vu ja de, which means none of this has happened before.

-

Sam: I’m just an adult that acts like a twelve-year-old.

-

Luke: I’m trilingual today, which means I try to use a language.

-

Tom: The world doesn’t deserve me, even if you guys do.

-

Sam: Wait, you speak French?

AJ: Not anymore. I had to make room in my brain for quantum physics and Monty Python quotes.

-

Luke: Why would any sane person give Tom coffee?

Sam: Why would any insane person give Tom coffee?

-

AJ: See what I did? I’m always thinking, except when I’m not.

-

Tom: This is an SNL sketch waiting to not be aired. But I find it funny.

-

Sam: When I want to talk concave mirrors, I go to Luke. When I want to talk Star Wars, I go to Tom.

-

AJ: If I were a supervillain, I’d use my doomsday weapon to give everyone hiccups.

-

Sam: Do you miss Luke?

AJ: No.

Tom: Wow, at 9:53, shade was thrown.

-

AJ: Say you’re in a box-

Tom: That’s Friday night. I’ve said too much.

-

Sam: *points multiple marble shooters at Tom while he’s minding his own business, doing work*

-

Luke: Now it’s the Sam-desk system, which sounds like a cool band name if you ask me.

-

Tom: It’s just like when I think I have money, and then I buy something and find out I don’t.

AJ: My cat has all my money. She keeps it in a box under my bed and whenever I go near it ‘meow, meow, hiss’

-

Tom: Tom knows fractals, Tom knows chaos theory, Tom IS chaos theory.

-

Sam: AJ-

AJ: Where?

Sam: …You’re right there.

AJ: Oh, good.

[hidden-by-a-trench-coat]

Hi does anyone want to hear about my SFTH Orchestra AU???

I've had it in the back of my mind for a little while but I was suddenly struck with intense inspiration, so here's what I have so far ideas-wise with my favorites/more elaborated ones on top and going down with less detail (I'll split them up by longform for your convenience):

(Kind of a long post so beware. It should also be noted I have only been in orchestra and I know depressingly little about the choir and band so. I apologize in advance - please feel free to add input about either of those if you want!)

Unrelenting Aubergine

I'm not fully sure about what Margaery's role would be, but for some reason she gives me cellist vibes. Maybe it's the way Sam sits while playing her, idk- regardless I feel like she'd be really good at it and would have lots of experience

She can play baroque-style as well because I said so. (I'll get to it later but she plays in the group with Father Andrews and Begruvia, too)

She could also be the conductor... I feel like she'd fit the role well, but I want to keep that slot open for now

Titch and James, I'm not exactly sure what they'd play, but with Margaery playing cello it makes me think they could, too and Margeary's magic in this AU is instead her teaching their father to play and then also teaching them how to play. With them playing the same instrument, it still allows them to have their rivalry as they try to live up to their father's legacy! Maybe he leaves them a really really nice instrument and they're kind of competing for it

James also gives me double bass vibes so maybe he's just doing it to try to make their father proud but in reality he kind of just wants to play double bass. Maybe he likes jazz, he kind of gives me those vibes

And Derek!!! I can't forget about him. He gives me viola vibes for some reason. Or maybe second violinist. He just wants to support Titch!!! But I think he could play piano as I could see that fitting for him. He’s Titch’s accompaniment! Basically his assistant, still

(He also gives me music theory nerd vibes for some reason, so maybe he composes from time to time)

Phantom of Hornchurch

Begruvia plays baroque-style viola because I said so. (This is what inspired the AU, actually-) He can also play modern viola but he just prefers baroque-style

Andrews, meanwhile, plays the organ! (it's so associated with churches I though it would be fitting) That and maybe harpsichord/piano, too, since if he can play organ he can probably play those two as well

(He also kind of gives me conductor vibes, but that's usually reserved for the first violinist in ensembles [or, well, leading, is. Not exactly 'conducting']. He'd probably be second to lead, though)

They respect each other's skills but they don't really get along - probably because they have completely different musical interpretations of the pieces and things

Since it's probably a small group, however, - and as I mentioned earlier - Margaery is there, too, and they both respect her skills. She finds it amusing to watch them bicker when it's not interfering with their practice time. She is not afraid to scold them about them wasting time

Cardboard Stegosaurus

Cliff plays cello (I swear I'm not that biased- they just all give me cello vibes). He's in his own ensemble before meeting Maire-Claire

Marie-Claire plays either violin or harp, but I'm leaning towards violin. It mimics the voice, it can have such a sweet but intense sound; she steals the show and yet she is still so collaborative and knows how to work with a group so well and Cliff absolutely loves it (but she would also be so majestic with a harp so. Either or!)

Pierre plays viola or cello, too, but I'm actually leaning towards viola. Him and Marie-Claire used to do lots of duets together and they played in an ensemble together

Marie-Claire and Cliff meet at some kind of ensemble gathering together where they play in a group together and they are both just enamored by each other's playing and it goes from there.

I imagine they don't pressure Chip into playing any instruments, but he still wants to try. I think Marie-Claire would try to teach him some violin and maybe in the future if anything happens with Cliff and Pierre (because I kind of love them) Chip can pick up viola, too, and use what he learned about violin to transition to viola. Maybe he plays both - either way Pierre is impressed by how much Chip knows and probably recognizes the skills that he learned from Marie-Claire right away

Toby's Secret Pocket

Toby would play something really elegant. I could see him playing harp and being really proud of it - but I could also see him playing piano. Maybe he knows both

He could also compose music, that might make a little more sense (he'd probably play a bit, too, though)

I don't have any ideas for his wife yet, but I imagine she'd have some kind of role in the orchestra, too

Clancy and Doohickey, meanwhile, should be like, a really loud section. Either somewhere in the like band section (brass and woodwinds or whatever) or like. First violins. Something where they can fight about their positions all the time. I don’t know enough about band instruments to assign them any, though and I don't know if they fit violin

They also don't have to be in the same section, they could also be two different instruments always fighting about which instrument is better or which has better solos/pieces and stuff, which can do cooler things, that kind of stuff. They could have some funny stuff being at the front of their sections and constantly glaring at each other as they try to be the better player but also have to communicate so they just glare (I think they'd secretly respect each other's playing, though)

Jimmy can be there, too! I think he could play something like trombone, maybe. One of the brass instruments, I feel like. Or maybe we can give him a triangle. I think he’d like triangle. Regardless, he's just having a great time in the background

From here on I don't have as elaborate of ideas, but I still want to include them

Inside the Mysterious Cube

Jeremiah and Bubba I feel like would play something like the fiddle (which, fun fact, I'm pretty sure is literally just violin and all of the difference comes from the style of play, actually) or something like saxophone. Which, I know would make them be kind of out of place in an orchestra, but idk, I think it suits them for some reason

Regardless they just enjoy themselves. I feel like they'd do a lot of duets and things rather than like full group performances

Clarissa's DIY Wedding

Amanda could sing. I think she’d have a great singing voice. That or like. Bassoon??? Idk why I just like. I just see it.

Clarissa, meanwhile I could also see singing. But maybe she picks up another instrument. I could see her playing flute

I think they would have met when they were young at some kind of music camp or at a music class at school and they just hit it off and became best friends from there. I think they would have done some great duets when they were younger

Mark would either play one of the brass instruments or like, keyboard. Some kind of electric instrument. Or maybe percussion. Admittedly I don't have many ideas for him (and I know too little about band to give him an instrument...) but he should be there, too

Priscilla's Final Petal

Priscilla! She still plays piano, she still pretty young (maybe somewhere around 18), still pressured into it by her parents (probably getting her into college, too), and she’s good at it, but… she doesn’t enjoy it.

Because of this she doesn’t have much musicality (or like. Putting emotion into the music, kind of). She plays the notes on the page as they’re written and doesn't really try much else. It doesn't have much emotion and it sometimes hinders the performance.

Everyone in the orchestra worries about her because she doesn’t seem to enjoy herself… (I like to think they try to take care of her or at least check in on her because she's still pretty young compared to most of them and she doesn't seem to be enjoying herself, but she's a good kid - I feel like Derek especially would check in on her, but people like Amanda, Jeremiah and Bubba, and Cliff do, too - oh, and Margaery! She acts like she doesn’t care but she does)

One time she gets really angry during a rehearsal and just stands up and yells at the conductor (whoever that ends up being, I still don't know) about how much she hates music and playing and how dumb it all is. Maybe she throws her music to the ground, of which some sections are just scribbled frantically out, and she just walks out and doesn’t return for the next few rehearsals

I think she would just need to find out how to enjoy music on her own or find something else to do - maybe a different instrument, maybe something else entirely, who knows

Wild, Wet, and Worrisome

Persephone!!! Maybe she sings but she just isn't great at it. Or maybe she is but she doesn't like it all that much. But the others still like her, even if they can be a bit rude at times (her sisters can be there, too). In my mind she desires to play another instrument and hasn't gotten a chance to try anything different (for some reason I want to say flute)

Maybe that’s how she meets Geoff. Maybe he plays something else - percussion? They’re both a bit awkward and they still hit it off - I don't have many other ideas about them, though, but I want them to be there

And that's it for now! I really want to include Tarquin and Amanda from Lost In Your Eyes (who would've guessed), but I don't have any ideas for them yet... I kind of want to include Beetroot Sam/Rupert and Justin, too, cause I like them, but I'm not sure. Maybe the Bandit Brothers, too. Jemima, David, and Mr. Steven from Milkman could also fit in... Caesar and Juliet could join in on the baroque-style playing group. Nigel, Andrew, and Uncle Sam could be fun to put in there, too. I should probably go to sleep now, but I might add onto this later with more ideas for them as I think of them.

Thank you for reading my ramblings! Feel free to add more ideas, I'm now very invested in this AU. Maybe I'll write something for it in the future but I'm not sure (Also, I need ideas for a conductor... I keep forgetting… Conductor Nigel, maybe…? I don’t know)

[dereks-unrelenting-heart]

I'm rewatching a bunch of longforms for the Astral Plane theory and based on definition of a 'witch' (my interpretation of the definition at least) there are a lot more of them in the SFTHverse than I was anticipating. Some of them you definitely won't be expecting-

[artstantpansies]

locomotion and clarissa discover painkillers

i like the title, but here's the context i originally wrote for this:

hits clarissa sfth with my chronic pain beam (needed some solidarity)!!! and then realizes she's from the 1700s and has no access to pain meds. have this silly thing. also btw this is based on my nutcracker theory version of strange noises, read here

[solo-walker]

What is "strange noises from the hole in the wall"? It sounds interesting but googling it didn't give me much information

Hullo! Thanks for the ask! :-D

Ok, so there's this group of British improv comedians on YouTube and tiktok (though I don't have the latter of these apps) called 'Shoot From The Hip', known as SFTH for short. They're really really REALLY good and post a lot of fun games, sketches, skits, snippets from shows etc. Sometimes, they bless us with fully improvised plays, some of which can last over 30 mins!! They take title prompts from the audience and improvise the entire thing using one of those titles. These plays can be emotional, complex and have well-developed plot and characters, along with a healthy dose of unhinged chaos and jokes that will make you split your sides laughing!

'Strange Noises from the Hole in the Wall' was one such title which was accepted by sfth as the prompt for their 40th improvised play. This play is genuinely VERY interesting and creepy (all with a seasoning of classic sfth humour) and has been immensely popular among the Tumblr sfth community ever since it came out! It is one of my personal favourites. Like, keeps-me-up-at-night level of favourite. It has sparked fics, art, theories, analyses and more!

Is this entire answer me blatantly urging you to go watch this play and check out other sfth videos? Yes. Yes it is. Have fun watching the adventures of two children on a Very Normal train run by a Perfectly Ordinary driver! :-D

[jaxyapsalot]

I was gonna like do this post tomorrow but it is too good to get lost in my mind and i refuse to use advanced tumblr mechanics so you're getting this from my sleep deprived ass as it was meant to be. Somewhat coherent rambling about SFTH and why it's important to me specifically that they say they are not political but still do gay shit:

I've seen the SFTH boys refer to their stuff as "non-political", which does apply to them and is great! This is not criticism, don't worry lol, but it does baffle me. Cause like. In theory, I am very aware that there are significant differences between the UK and places like Hungary. And I am also aware that the UK still has a shitton of problems, but the fact that they can label queer content as non-political, and be right? That's fucking surreal and also so awesome. Don't get me wrong, in this day and age, queerness can be political, and should be political in some contexts, but SFTH has introduced me to the concept of it not having to be, and said that it isn't very explicitly, and idk. And again, yes from a certain point of view that I often align myself with, what they do on stage is still political, still has that weight, but also, we here can't show gay people in daytime tv! Showing stereotypical and hurtful depictions of a gay person is still considered controversial and very political! So to see SFTH handle queerness as it is, just existing, not inherently political (which, depends on the circumstances. I am willing to fight for my rights and be politicised for the sake of it but god i wish i didnt have to) is really refreshing and i love them 😭