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Sure, Paul might be Pokey's trophy, as he's the titular guy who didn't like musicals, but Emma is the one Pokey hates the most.

The opening number (and Emma's presence in it) points to the entirety of TGWDLM being an in-universe musical to lure new members to the hive (in the form of us, the audience). So Emma and Paul are only being puppeted to echo their resistances, over and over and over.

Paul is distressed the whole time, but he's also a hero, he tries to save everyone (and fails, of course), while Emma is left to bleed and limp and scream. She's puppeted in a mockery of her fear and agony. Other deaths are bloodier, but hers is drawn out.

And this makes perfect sense for Pokey. What's the main thing we know about him?

He hates any voice that isn't his own.

Paul is outspoken about disliking musicals, but otherwise is a pretty passive guy. He doesn't make waves or stand out, he's too shy to even ask Emma out until the end of the world.

Emma is loud, opinionated, defiant. She has a very distinct voice.

Paul escapes Pokey for so long because he just doesn't like musicals, helping him avoid the traps that probably caught most of the townsfolk early on. If he liked musicals, or even tolerated them, he'd probably have been consumed by the goo pretty quickly.

Emma actively defies the hive. She starts the story in a job where she is literally required to sing and dance, and instead of just going with it she says fuck you and quits. She even clarifies that she could do it if she wanted, but she just doesn't want to.

Pokey has constructed the entire show to lure in new victims and also torture Emma specifically. In this essay I will

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Once again watching Black Friday and feeling compelled to confess that the fifteen minutes when they hit us with What Do You Say / Our Doors are Open / Feast or Famine back to back is still one of my top five Starkid experiences.

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I just lived out a scene irl that you would expect to see in a fanfic tagged: #slowburn #unrequited love #friends to lovers

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Call me Lex Foster cause I need to get to California

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I firmly believe that the next show in The Lands That Are is going to be an adaption of Snow White, likely called Snow White's Castle. Here's everything I've figured so far:

I think Ragweed will return. In CC, he mentions "six sturdy dwarves", which would make a total of seven dwarves. He also mentions slaying goblins, and I definitely think making the seven dwarves a Tolkien-inspired adventuring party would be a fun, dark fantasy twist

Furthermore, on the map of The Lands That Are, we see "Rockhammer's Hut", likely Ragweed and the other six dwarves' home. The Hut is situated close by "The Witch Queen's Castle", which I believe will belong to Snow White's wicked stepmother.

I have further cause to believe the Witch Queen is the stepmother from the livestreams during the CC kickstarter campaign. One of the tier levels is Witchglass

Now forgive me for not knowing the exact stream name, I'm going off memory here. But Nick went on to explain the Witchglass is a special material created by witches to trap demons. He then hinted "think of a fairytale that has a witch talking to glass". I believe this means the magic mirror in the story will actually be a demon trapped inside glass.

Speaking of the kickstarter, we also have these fellas from the original launch video. These puppets weren't in CC, but bears a striking similarity to Ragweed. It's most likely these were just early versions of Ragweed, but they could also be other dwarf characters we haven't met yet

And my final piece, which is pure wild speculation, is the Grizzwald girls' brother. I think he may be the Huntsman. Now, I know this is a bit of a throwaway line, probably just meant as joke, but having the Huntsman be a troll/monster hunter would be exactly the kind of dark fantasy twist I can see in the Lands That Are

So that's everything I've gathered. I expect to be either vindicated or completely wrong when the next show is announced.

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And when Joey Richter does a quick change into Hot Chocolate Boy during the first scene at Beanies during the TGWDLM revival...

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At some point in your life, you were taught that being slightly annoying is an unforgivable sin. Maybe it was by your parents or a teacher or a friend or a bully or an older sibling. But someone taught you that being slightly annoying is a crime punishable by death.

You must unlearn this.

You must accept that all people will be annoying at some point or another in their lives, maybe all of their lives, and that this is okay. It is okay for strangers on the bus, it is okay for children in the grocery store, it is okay for people on social media, and it is okay for you.

If you ever want to truly love your fellow humans, if you ever want to truly love yourself, you must have forgiveness for being annoying.

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Guys some of you will never be able to understand the cultural reset that was TGWDLM. For a brief moment there was this beautiful union between old and new fans. Everyone was so nice and appreciated all the actors. For so many casual Starkid fans this show is was changed that. COVID literally hadn’t even happened. Show stopping number was genuinely the only thing anyone listened to for MONTHS. Life was good…

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The Forest

11/5/2024

(A poem I wrote yesterday, below the cut.)

If a bear falls in the forest does anybody care?

Does the stench of rotten fur and flesh waft through the air?

Do the pitch black claws maul at nothing?

While the ears perk and snout sniff no more?

With its mouth agape, the ghost of a roar?

A smile or a snarl? Nobody's sure.

Yet still its life is trapped, in a spiritual rigor mortis.

Like blood drawn from a stone,

Fighting to seep out as easy as the putrefaction.

Wiggling its way from underneath the decomposing heart

Cushioning the lungs with a pale imitation of breath.

Slipping through the bloodstream,

Filling the belly and the bladder and the bowels,

Swirling through the mind, trying to find a way back.

And then

Like a life deferred

It dies

With the snap of a branch.

In the eyes of an onlooker

Wide, brown, soft, disbelieving.

It dies,

from the still-bared claws

to the soft pert ears.

And as it decomposes on that now quiet forest floor

There is nothing to stop the flesh from sallowing.

The fur mixes with the kindling and grasses,

And the body bloats, though not with life.

And as the decay overtakes the wretched animal

The onlooker falls on bended knee, retches, and weeps.

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Can I admit something funny? Ever since I first watched Wreck it Ralph (when it came out) I keep thinking that the word 'glitch' is a slur in the real world. Anytime anyone uses it I wince and have to actively remind myself that it's not a bad word. Every time I think of the word or have to say it I feel really guilty. I have no clue why I think this way or how to stop. It's kind of actually a problem for me lol.

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Headcanon: Tadius didn't wait so long to kill the King because he didn't know how. He was perfectly prepared. He was just waiting for someone worthy to be in line to inherit the throne. As soon as he knew the crown would go to Ella, that's when he knew it was safe to act.

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bryce charles as ella ashmore is THE best casting decision they could’ve made hands down. every one of her songs is so difficult vocally and she makes them sound beautiful and look easy. she has spot on comedic timing and sells all her one liners, then in multiple scenes of the same show she’s fully sobbing her eyes out and screaming in pain. she brings depth to her heavy scenes and light into her upbeat ones. her dramatic acting is FLAWLESS, she helps the audience understand the gravity of everything ella’s enduring even in a show with a lot of melodramatic and fantastical elements. ella goes through the widest range of emotional experiences by far and bryce nails the portrayal of each and every one - fear, rage, guilt, grief, elation, love, disgust, vengeance, hope. she has a clear stage presence and is able to hold her own when she’s the only one onstage. her dance numbers are beautiful and she nails all her (one million pieces of) choreography. and once again i have to comment on her vocals like you have to be SO GOOD to sing those songs as well as she did even once let alone for the full run of the show. if i sounded like her i would never shut up. bryce charles is the true definition of a triple threat and i knew i would be impressed by her performance as ella ashmore but wow. just wow. blown away doesnt even begin to cover it

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Sometimes I feel like I'm still not over the opening of Black Friday. The fake commercial... the wiggly jingle... the sniggle costumes... the paulkins reveal... You had to be there, and I still am.

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another thing i really really appreciated about cinderella's castle is the friendship between ella and lucy and justine, the scenes leading up to their gruesome death were so vitally important for ella's character and also to show the horror of the trolls, stepmother lead those girls there for the explicit purpose of stealing their skins, she could have done it immediately, but she let ella have that one day of happiness with her friends before ripping it out from under her, it shows that cruelty and also the love ella has been missing

justine and lucy are the only ones to believe her, she's been kept from her dear loyal friends for years and years, and they pick up right where they left off and for the first time in all that time someone believes ella, she gets this gorgeous sliver of hope to hold onto

plus, their friendship is so fun and well written !! it's girly and childish and kinda silly but it's beautiful and it's pure, i'm so grateful for the langs for always investing the same love and attention (and frankly sometimes even more) into their female characters as they do the male characters, that little snippet of friendship brings together the show in such a nice way for me that it couldn't have if they had cut around that moment of peace and quiet in favour of horror

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CC spoilers below :)

For a second I lived in a paradise where Ella told the Griswald girls, and they believed her, and I thought that maybe the musical was going to turn into a friendship adventure party and all three of them were going to go on the revenge mission together. And then I heard Angela's voice and all my dreams were dashed and the musical took a wonderfully dark turn.

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I fucking called it!!!

Cinderellas Castle spoilers below

I'm an hour and 25 minutes in and I'm calling it now, if Ella, gets together with anyone, and I'm not sure she will, but if she does it will be with Tadius.

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Cinderella's Castle Spoilers below

I was going to do an update at the 1:45 mark, but honestly too many things are happening. Just know this show is so fucking amazing and funny and shocking.... and I could go on but I want to finish the show asdggjkrjdhdks