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hatchetfieldtheories · 3 years

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Return to Hatchetfield-Town – The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals Part 1

Alright settle down kiddos. Get comfy, find a warm blanket and hug your favourite fwendy-wend as we start our Return to Hatchetfield-Town series.

I’ll be rewatching all the Hatchetfield scripted content (i.e. not livestreams or interviews) and jotting down what happens, explaining some concepts and delving into some of the key theories in the series (and using the word “implications” that often it will cease to have meaning).

Even though I’ll be doing the rewatch by show in order they came out, there will be spoilers for all Hatchetfield content that is available as of the rewatch.

I’ve also linked to a number of other blog’s theories here because they are amazing, but if you aren’t happy with your theory being included I will be more than happy to remove it! Just let me know.

[Part 2]

The Guy Who Really Hated Brigadoon

TGWDLM starts off with the greatest song ever to feature dancing zombies… at least I can’t think of any other notable ones.

In the title song, the cast of singing and dancing zombies explain to us that all great stories have to have a hero, someone who knows right and wrong and that the best way to do this is through singing and dancing in musicals. This with the later line of “they evoke the philosophical” make me think that Pokey took a class in Campbell’s Hero Myth in College and became that guy.

Hatchetfield Challenge: try not to shrug your shoulders along with the music at the chorus. Its impossible. No wonder the Hive spread so quickly. Literally killer dance moves.

So then they introduce us to an awful Grinch named Paul and we hit the first point in the show where I laugh out loud every single time I watch.

I know TGWDLM was not originally intended to be the first Hatchetfield show but starting this series with a song which sets up the story so well is truly spectacular. And is there anything more Starkid than introducing your main character by having other characters sing about how awful they are?

One thing I have noticed while writing, reading and collating Hatchetfield theories is that while most Black Friday and Nightmare Time theories are usually about the overall Hatchetfield lore, most TGWDLM theories are usually quite self-contained and focused on this one show. TGWDLM – while so fully within the Hatchetfield extended universe, is definitely the show that can best stand-alone without the others.

It’s the end of the world, Paul

If you don’t sing

This is the bridge, Paul

Where we globalize everything

And the words will come to you

We swear we will teach you

What it means to love

What it means to obey, Paul!

On a first watch this is very funny. On your 10th watch this is terrifying.

CCRP Technical: No-one here knows how to use their printer

Following the absolute bop of a title song we find ourselves in CCRP Technical and all feels very… normal. It’s very weird following all the revelations in subsequent Hatchetfield media, to be watching a show where there was genuinely nothing obviously fishy about CCRP. We’ll obviously discuss CCRP more when we get to Nightmare Time, but for now all we know is that Paul works in the technical department of CCRP – an unknown corporation, with some key characters, Charlotte, Bill and Ted.

We also find out more about Grinch Paul’s personality and honestly, Paul is me pre-pandemic just outright avoiding social interactions and suddenly going for coffee in the middle of the work day. (I have become a changed woman in lockdown – someone please invite me somewhere… anywhere!)

For all the dark humour and death in the Hatchetfield series, Starkid do know how to bring the joy – I love how excited the town of Hatchetfield are for a touring production of Mamma Mia.

Fake Fact: TGWDLM is actually an allegory for Europe in the 1970s, when we all became mind-controlled by Abba’s Waterloo. (Find me a better explanation for Eurovision, I dare you! The sequins were just too shiny!)

“The idea of sitting there… trapped in a musical. That is my own personal hell.”

Two words: Emma Perkins – need I explain any more?

Ah Hot Chocolate Boy. I really look forward to finding out more about him. Where does he come from? He just appears out of the ether. What’s his story? How old is he? How many hot chocolates does he have per day? I know we have since had some confirmation on who he is, but they raise more questions than answers. For now I will just point you to a gorgeous Mood Board by @hatchetfieldmoodboards which features a bit of a spoiler.

For real though – is it just me who would love a full version of “I’ve been brewing up your coffee”?

Hatchetfield Challenge: Try not to sing “Shut the f*ck up” along with Emma.

“Watching people sing and dance makes me very uncomfortable”- oh boy Paul… you’re not going to enjoy the next hour and 40 minutes. Also, Paul, you’re making me uncomfortable watching you throw your brand new coffee around as if you’ve just been given an empty cup. There’s imaginary coffee everywhere. Hopefully, HCB won’t slip on it before it’s cleaned up… he’s already having a bad day.

“Thunder and Lightning… very very frightening. But a big rock hurtling through the clouds is no biggie.” – all the residents of Hatchetfield apparently.

The next sequence happens so fast and we get introduced to a lot of characters. Notably Greenpeace Girl, Alice and Deb, Sam, and Hidgens (though we don’t find out his name until much later). This scene impresses me because they do such a great job of very quickly bringing out so many characters who nonetheless are memorable when they return later in the show.

Peanuts the Hatchetfield Pocket Squirrel is an Eldritch Being. I won’t go into Peanuts theories here as that could be a whole post in itself – and many a person more brilliant than I have written some fantastic theories on this. You can learn all about how a Squirrel took over the fandom in the following posts:

@dahlialupine : x

@frombothofmyhearts: x

@abiimaryy: x

And finally mine which is definitely a serious theory: x

It’s… A… Musical!

Now to remember we are actually watching a musical. La Dee Da Da Day is such a happy joyful song performed spectacularly by a throng of the undead.

The song is about the Hive singing about how much of a great time they are having now they are tap-dancing zombies, and trying to find ways to convince Paul he should join them too. So the grins on all their faces are not at all terrifying.

It’s worth noting also that according to the laws of the TGWDLM world, only those infected by the Hive can hear the music in the background. This becomes important later when it becomes clear some characters have started being infected before they are fully turned into zombies, but for now it just paints quite a funny picture of what Paul must be witnessing. I definitely think for him, this whole scene just sounds like this clip of Greased Lightning without the music: x

The important thing here however, besides Mariah’s singing, is that the Hive leave Paul alone. They don’t actually attempt to turn him at this point. I have a theory on the implications of this, but note this has big spoilers for the end of the show and Black Friday. It was written before we knew that the Hive (Pokey) was related to Wiggly but the content still stands: x

Charlotte, Honey, you don’t need that much sugar – you’re sweet enough

For reference:

@melchron noted that the lyrics for La Dee Dah sound very similar to the incantation for soul transferal read out in Jane’s a Car, which leads me to two possible implications.

The Freaky Furbies have a language other than English that they use for their incantations so this is why they sound similar.

There is soul transference happening to the souls of the bodies the Hive take over.

Or it’s just Starkid using similar sounding words for their content…. Three! There are three possible implications…

Paul – just print off another copy of the report

From this point on the musical numbers really do come thick and fast. We move on to the first instance of Jeff Blim encouraging Paul to talk about his feelings, which I am sure is not important and isn’t worth discussing. Paul goes through a musical rendition of a promotion interview, which is actually the Hive attempting to find out if he will be the “hero” of their story. They picked out Paul for the role from the start. That he was chosen was inevitable.

What do you see for this company? I'm looking for someone with strong ambition Someone to sell their specific vision Someone to share with precise precision their thoughts 'Cause I want you to want…To want

So it turns out these will be looooong, so I will end here and see you in part 2! I’m not sure yet what the upload frequency will be. It takes quite a while to go through the show like this but it is a lot of fun!

Hatchetfield High Homework:

Where do you stand on the Peanuts the Hatchetfield Pocket Squirrel debate?

Why do you think that the Soul Transference Spell and La Dee Dah sound so similar?

Go follow all the lovely people mentioned in this post!

Bonus points if you know the reference in the post title.

[Part 2]

#the guy who didn't like musicals #tgwdlm #return to hatchetfield town #starkid #team starkid

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lichfucker · 3 years

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do u have starkid recs for someone who obsessively watched and rewatched avpm/s in 2010 but then never pursued any other content? as a side note ive also seen&loved edgar allan poe's murder mystery/dinner party.

I mean. almost all of them are extremely good

if you like parodies, twisted is my absolute favorite of all of their shows. twisted is to aladdin what wicked is to the wizard of oz. will probably make you cry, if you're into that, which I am. holy musical batman is also very good and super underrated. if you like joe walker (voldemort/umbridge) you'll like hmb. trail to oregon is also very fun, though the potty humor can be a little much at times. most people don't like ani, their star wars parody, and I'll admit it took me a while to really Get ani as well-- it's less a musical and more like a movie with a live soundtrack. definitely the most niche in terms of the references (which is a WILD thing to say about star wars but it gets SO specific with the lore). I definitely would have liked ani more if I knew more about star wars. and obv there's also a very potter senior year, but the only thing I remember from it is the gilderoy lockhart mouse prince monologue, and I've never really felt a strong desire to rewatch it

if you're less invested in strictly parody, everything they've done post-twisted has been original stuff. (they did a couple originals before, too-- me and my dick, which really is not worth watching, and starship, which really IS worth watching. kick it up a notch makes me feel shrimp emotions.) firebringer is a fantastic lauren lopez vehicle (draco). work to do became sort of a meme a few years ago. if you've seen any clips/gifs of her rolling her eyes and going "I don't really wanna do the work today," that's firebringer. black friday is the only starkid show that's ever come close to dethroning twisted as my favorite. it is EXTREMELY different from their early stuff. it's a cosmic horror dark comedy about people shopping on black friday. the production value is. incredible. it is shot and edited like a feature film. if you're going to watch black friday you should PROBABLY watch the guy who didn't like musicals first. I didn't like tgwdlm very much, it just wasn't my cup of tea personally (most people I've encountered seem to really love it though). black friday isn't technically a direct sequel to tgwdlm, but they're set in the same place and have a lot of overlapping characters, and most of the "comedy" in black friday comes in the form of references to bits from tgwdlm. tgwdlm is a horror COMEDY; black friday is a HORROR comedy

this isn't technically starkid, it's tin can bros, which is a sort of sibling company to starkid started by joey richter (ron), brian rosenthal (quirrel), and corey lubowich (mostly behind-the-scenes stuff, idk if he was involved in avpm/s at all), but if I spend more than ten minutes at a time thinking about spies are forever I lose my fuckin marbles. spies are forever is about an american spy during the cold war getting back into the field for the first time after the tragic death of his partner. it is obscenely funny-- another treat for lovers of joe walker, joey richter, and lauren lopez-- and also devastatingly gut-wrenching. all the songs are certified jams. I can't say too much about why I love it without spoiling the two massive twists at the end. it's just! it's so! please watch spies are forever. please do it

(personally I haven’t seen edgar allan poe’s murder mystery dinner party yet, but there’s a fair bit of overlap in the cast w saf. I got through my whole spiel before I realized I didn’t actually have to explain tin can bros to you but I was too lazy to delete it lmao)

hopefully that helps! if you want to talk more about my specific opinions regarding each show feel free to message me off anon!

#anonymous #long post #bluh bluh

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d-criss-news · 4 years

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Darren Criss is fully in his element on Quibi’s Royalties, and not just because the 10-episode comedy finds him playing a Hollywood songwriter surrounded by Glee alumni.

The experience of co-writing and producing a musical project for a fledgling streaming service took Criss back to his days at the University of Michigan, where his mantra became “chaos is the mother of invention.” As he tells TVLine, “During the process, we made no claims to it working. We just had to slap it all together, and I think it turned out pretty great. That’s the fun of your friends coming together for something that ultimately has a lot of heart, soul and a cheeky earnestness about it.”

Criss also says he wanted to use Royalties as an opportunity to increase the Hollywood presence of his classmates-turned-collaborators, Nick and Matt Lang. “We started StarKid, which is our theater production company, about 10 years ago, and they’ve been in the trenches of that forever,” he explains. “Being the Mr. Hollywood of the group, I’ve been dying to get people in the film and television industries to get their eyes on them.”

For this reason, the trio took a “dexterous” approach to shopping the idea around. “If someone had said they wanted this to be a three-hour movie, we could have created it as such,” Criss says. “What’s nice about [Quibi’s shorter format] is that it’s a great exercise in maximizing the space you have. And it lends itself really well to comedy. Good storytelling is hopefully malleable, so I really enjoyed this process. It wasn’t how we set out to do it, but it was a great challenge.”

Below, Criss elaborates on the process of bringing Royalties to the small(er) screen, from casting it on his phone to editing it on the set of Netflix’s Hollywood:

TVLINE | Let’s start with the important stuff: There are a lot of hot dogs on this show. How many did you actually have to eat? [Laughs] Not many, because I’m not much of a hot dog guy. I’m not much of a processed meat guy. (Hashtag super California granola hippie loser.) While I do love a good hot dog every now and then, I don’t think anyone likes them in continuous succession, so I tried to minimize them as much as possible. That was the least of our challenges.

TVLINE | OK, what were some of the actual hurdles you had overcome? Like a lot of things I’ve done, it was very fast and furious. The actual adage is that necessity is the mother of invention, but for a lot of those early StarKid shows, I amended that to say that chaos is the mother of invention. For a lot of the shows I worked on in college, I would write the songs just a few days before they were on stage. I also didn’t really know my lines and everything was thrown together, while the Langs had been working on the book for months. Similarly here, they’d been working on these scripts for months. But by the time pre-production rolled around, we had to write and record 10 songs in 10 days, then do pre-production for not only basically a 90-minute movie but also 10 separate music videos. [Director] Amy Heckerling flew in and also had very little time to prep. And we had to get it all done before I shot Hollywood for Netflix. So we had way more to do than was frankly possible.

On top of that, we didn’t really know how to deliver to Quibi. What are they looking for? What aspect ratios should we be shooting in? What type of coverage do we need to get? It was the Wild West in many respects. And that was something that could have been a huge problem, not having any precedent, but I’m someone who sort of relishes that. When you’re in the Wild West, there are no rules, which to me is a great thing.

TVLINE | When you go back and watch the episodes, do you find yourself watching horizontally or vertically? I find myself going back and forth. When we were editing it, I would try to watch it on my phone as much as possible. The post-production process was the longest part of this entire thing. I would shoot a scene of Hollywood, then have to run over to the editing room. Sometimes the editing room would be in a sprinter van outside my trailer. It was tough because you’re editing in a conventional way with a nice screen and nice speakers, but the mix and the final print of this will be on your phone, which can be hard to imagine. For the songs, I wish people could watch with a big speaker system. I hope people are listening with their headphones.

TVLINE | Of those 10 songs you co-wrote, do you find that any one gets stuck in your head more than the others? Well, they’re all stuck in my head, but not for the reason they should be. They’re in there because I had to listen to them over and over again, so I’m fond of a lot of the songs, but I’ve kind of lost objectivity. The songs have also had so many different lives. It sounds one way when you write it, another when you produce it, then another when you have the artist sing it. And then there’s how the song feels when it’s in a music video. There were lines in songs I thought were funny, but when I saw my friends [and Glee co-stars] Chord Overstreet and Kevin McHale singing them at a Griffith Park overlook of Los Angeles, with Chord in a ridiculous Scott Stapp/Jared Leto circa 2003 wig, I start loving it in a new way. They’ve all found ways to enchant me as they move forward.

TVLINE | That’s another thing I enjoyed about this, all the Glee reunions. And not just Chord and Kevin. Even people like John Stamos and Jennifer Coolidge. You know what’s funny? I forgot that John Stamos and Jennifer Coolidge were on Glee! I became friends with them separately. Yes, they were on the show, but these are also people that were at my wedding. I forget we have a Glee connection. I wish I was that clever in the outset, like, how many people from Glee can I get together? … We actually started shooting before I had a huge percentage of people cast. This is in conjunction with a casting director, but I had to cast about 70-80 percent of this thing on my phone. It was me calling people and saying, “I have this really goofy thing. We’re homies, can you do me a solid?” So I owe a great debt of gratitude to the people who were game enough to show up to this wacky thing that I’m sure sounded absurd over my pitch on the phone, much less for a platform that they hadn’t heard of yet. The first season of anything is tough, because you have to establish so much.

TVLINE | Well, without giving too much away, the finale does leave things open for a second season. How much thought have you given that? Anytime you write anything, you always think bigger than what’s there. The game, so to speak, of having two songwriters that have to write songs for crazy situations and artists is an endless playground of funny scenarios. We came up with so many ideas for stories, at least five or 10, and then ended up saying, “This is a Season 2 or Season 3 concept. It’s too much out of the gate.” We really had to economize what we threw at our audience, so hopefully we can earn enough interest and trust in these characters and in their hijinks that we can expand the world a little bit in a second season.

TVLINE | On top of that, I feel like it’s a show that could lend itself to social distancing better than some others. A lot of people have been considering that. What is the socially distanced version of our show? With enough creativity, you could definitely do that. I’ve done songwriting sessions from home — FaceTime, Zoom sessions and all that. There is a world where that exists, so who knows? If that happens, you can say you wrote it here first.

All 10 episodes of Royalties‘ first season are available to stream on Quibi. To watch individual music videos on Criss’ YouTube channel, click here.

#darren criss #tv line #royalties #royalties press #press #july 2020

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Nightmare Time Episode 1 Review: The Hatchetfield Ape-Man/Watcher World

I take a look at the first episode of Starkid’s new show Nightmare Time! Starkid, returns for a zoomcast, bringing back the casts of both Hatchefield plays for an anthology series of science fiction double feature picture shows! This week’s tales of terror:

The Hatchefield Ape-Man: A british heiress gets romanced by a shaved bigfoot with the help of everyone’s favorite kooky college professor. Forgotten fiances, murder and described nudity naturally insue.

Watcher World: Bill and Alice return as Bill drags his daughter to a kitschy theme park for a day of family fun, which Alice enjoys and is as respectful about as much as you’d expect. As you’d also expect given Bill’s general luck, things take a turn for the Shining real quick. Spoilers and full review under the cut.

Well this was a nice suprise. With the ongoing pandemic I genuinely did not think Starkid would be back anytime soon. Having just gotten back into them this years after several years of forgetting they existed via the Hatchetfield plays, I was pretty bummed, if understanding. So last week’s announcment of not only this series but a full scripted series from their sister production company the tin bros was a HUGE shot of happy I needed in this troubling times. Still need to watch spies are forver love the soundtrack nto important.

Point is the Lang Brothers and their merry band of actors found a way to continue on via format I didn’t realize existed outside of table reads but is a nice way to do things: The Zoomcast, basically a podcast done live on zoom, with the actors in plainclothes for the most part, with one person, in this case Nick Lang, reading out descriptions of what’s going on. Being a starkid production this also has musical director Matt Bohm playing accompaniment and pretaped if still via the actor’s own camera musical numbers. Overall while i’ts an understandably cheap production, only what costumes the actors have on hand and most props mimed, it WORKS, allowing for way more elaborate set pieces than the stage would allow and is anchored by Lang’s impeccable descriptions and the cast’s amazing as always acting really making the stories pop. So things worked on a technical level despite having the barest of bones to work with. But did it work on a story level? Well yes, but if I ended my reviews with just that i’d have less than the 3 or 4 fans I do have, so without further ado, it’s nightmare time! The Intro:

Now normally in my reviews I don’t talk about the intro because I come in mid way or because I just didn’t think to. This is an exception since

A) I should be doing that anyway or at least when I cover a show’s first episode since intro’s are sometimes one of the most memorable parts of a show

B) It’s a full musical number that’s been stuck in my head since the trailer for this series and has now set up an apartment there. C) This series is a musical, if not to the same degree as the two plays before it, so it’d be weird NOT to talk about it’s signature song.

So with that out of the way the intro.. is fucking impressive. Seriously taking disparate videos with probably as much as the directions “Sing this part of the song and be kind of creepy or alluring or whatever” and making it really flow? Good work, both to the starkids for bringing their a game to it as always and to Nick and Matt really did a good job editing this together, musically and visually to be an abolute jawdrop. And somehow finding utterly stunning stock image animations that none of us realized were stock footage but still fit the tone perfectly. Just great stuff. Some stray notes: Mariah is absolutely stunning in both voice and apperance in this, John Matheson’s bit as paul was great, and Jeff Blim of course got a great bit with his always astounding hair blowing in the breeze with him at full high pitch. Just an utterly great intro, and for Starkid’s first series in over a decade, and really ever but semantics, they really brought it. Good stuff. Onto the actual episode content.

The Hatchetfield Ape-Man: Lucy, a british heiress played by Angela Giarratana, was saved by the legendary “Hatchefield Ape-Man”.. who apparently has a hyphen like spider-men because while sasquatches can do that. Point is she’s come back every year in the hopes of reuniting with her savior but has so far failed. But as Lucy prepares to leave from this year’s failed expedition, an old friend finally gives her what she needs... old friend to us to her she’s just some grey haired lunatic who showed up out of the mist. Which while accurate, dosen’t quite quantify everyone’s favorite playwright/college professor/murderous psychopath/composer.

Yes at long last Professor Hidgens has returned! I honestly didn’t expect the anthology to bring in such a huge fan faviorite so soon. I mean I expected returning characters, mostly because the project allows old faviorites to come back for their own stories or for the stars of the musicals to get a chance at a much happier ending... there’s a lot of potetial there. That and let’s face it “Jane’s a Car” is a pretty dead giveaway it’s going to be about Tom’s dead wife and Tim’s dead mother coming back in horrible mash up of christine and my mother the car. Maybe. I could be wrong. I also doubt many of you know what my mother the car is and to that I say it’s an old sitcom i’m honestly suprised I know exists and know nothing about other than the title and it being about a son’s mom’s ghost possesing his car apparently. Well that and it was the basis for this.

youtube

Point is, while I expected some returns, I wasn’t expecting one this large and this bombastic so soon, but BOY was it welcome. So getting back on track after all that, HIdgens seemingly takes Lucy to meet her ape man, who goes by the name Klonk, played by everyone’s faviorite sexy caveman Joey Richter. Also it’s adorable he and Lauren share a streaming screen. I know practicality and all that but their engagment is genuinely a sweet thing to hear about at a time when the world’s going down the toilet fast. Fun Fact: I pegged the Ape-Man was either going to be Jeff or Joey, leaning towards Jeff, though given my love of Joey I wasn’t disapointed with him, especially with the twist... but I was EXASTIC to learn the answer was basically “Both.. kinda?”. But yeah Lucy soon bonds with the ape man, with HIdgens encouraging her since it’s more than he’s gotten out of Klonk in 11 months of looking after the guy, and this way they can get him to learn enough to decide what he wants for himself.

So a few months, and some romantic bonding between woman and ape-man, pass but a wrench is thrown into Klonk’s wooing and attempt to tell lucy he loves her: Jonathan, Lucy’s just now mentioned fiance and royal dickhead played by Kurt Mega. And credit where it’s do whlie he clearly didn’t have to dress up, he did have a nice 50′s monster movie british person suit he put on. Lucy is now conlficted and what not even though Jonathan is kind of an asshole who just wants to drag her back home. And i’ts not like Lucy didn’t keep in touch: she sent him texts and probably called, so i’ts not like he didn’t know she was here. He’s also a hunter for extra dick points as if he needed them. Naturally when meeting his romantic rival he’s a dick.. but raises some valid questions: While Hidgens claim he shaved Konk due to lesions, there’s no mark of lesisons or the shaving. But his natural dickheadedness shines through and Jonathan talks about shooting Klonk before lucy takes his ring off and throws it and Jonathan goes after her. Annnnd yeah turns out the disposable dickhead fiance for once is RIGHT. In a twist I did not remotley see coming but damn if it wasn’t clever, Klonk.. is Ted from TGWDLM and the plan was to seduce lucy with this con, marry her and then bump her off. It’s a hell of a twist and cleverly hidden since Joey’s such a starkid mainstay, it’s not a huge suprise he was Klonk and thus easily hid the fact he was also Ted. It’s clever stuff and pivots the story nicely.

Ted is naturally a douchey as ever, going along with Hidgen’s plan to have him marry lucy then kill her and take her dough for themselves.. and unsuprisingly, so Hidgens can get Workin Boys off the ground. Granted there are easier ways to do this with the same scooby doo scheme: Just have HIdgens plan working boys casually, have Klonk really love it and being the sweetheart she is LUcy would fiance the thing just to make them both happy. I mean he can still marry her and ted can still have direct acess to her money if they want, it’s just an easier way that dosen’t shine supscion on the caveman who looks exactly like a local douchebag who everyone he’s met would testify against him. I mean would Paul and Bill REALLY be that suprised that Ted did this?

Exactly. Then again neither of our “heroes’ Here is very bright, and this scheme only works because Lucy is clearly very sweet, very naive, and very much wants a romantic evening with an ape man after all this time and effort searching, so she wants to believe him. So the fact the best they could come up with is something out of Scooby Doo is unsuprisng but still great. However things take a turn for the

Pretty quick as Hidgens takes disposable british douche fiance hunting.. then kills the guy after freely admiting he’s a fraud in what’s an INCREDIBLY chilling scene. Seriously it’s amazing how Robert takes a character as loveably redicilous, even his evil and murderous plan during TGWDLM was still hilariously rediclous, and makes him UTTERLY TERRIFYING. Even when dropping my fair lady refrences. Amazing stuff. So the next day, after Konk “asks” what an engagment is and what not, we then get Lucy wondering just WHERE jonathan is and we get the second biggest laugh of the night as Hidgens gives us the iconic line of “Oh he left... said something about you being crazy and going back to london and basically to go fuck yourself. “. Naturally Lucy has followup questions and goes to find out while Ted, also naturally, isn’t exactly pleased when he finds out his partner in crime did a murder on someone.

Ted may be a sleazy dickhead.. but even he sees maybe murdering a rich british person who just came here, went basically ONLY to this one location, and whose probably got many people who will misss him, one of whom is their primary target, is kinda dumb. Then again this is a plan that hinges on someone who could easily be identified, as he has or at least probably had an office job and three coworkers who know him, assuming a false identity to marry someone for their money. But again we’re dealing with a guy who thinks working boys is marketable to anyone who isn’t a starkid, and a moron who soon says he does his best thinking while erect. They only got this far because their target REALLY wants to fuck a sasquatch, is sweet but naive and well Ted IS still joey richter, and no longer has the porn stache so there you go. Ted decides to cut Hidgens out of things.. partly because you know, he killed a person, and partly because instead of killing Lucy, Ted realized he honeslty has a LOT to gain by simply marrying her and staying married. He gains a hot rich wife (his word’s not mine, but angie is genuinely beautiful so fair point), a mansion, and while Hidgens points out the obvious, he has to stay Konk.. that’s actually appealing to Ted as he feels better as Konk, not just because he impresses an attractive woman for doing basic stuff, but because he feels better as Konk. This is.. an intresting turn for Ted i genuinely like. It shows that Ted may, as much as he presents with bluster and ego, actually LIKE the kind of shithead he knows he is. I mean looking at his life he has two workmates who calling them friends is a bit of a stretch, and one who he’s having an affair with but seems detemrined to make her doomed marriage to an even bigger asshole work. He really dosen’t have much as ted so it’s easy to see why being Konk is better: He’s a better person as him who actually has someone who cares about him. Naturally Hidgens takes this as well as you’d expect and when Ted/Konk tries proposing he goes with the logical option for taking the fourtune for himself:

Yes really. Hidgens strips naked, and swings his arms around like an orangutan to try and convince Lucy he’s the real hatchetfield apeman. Sadly this dosen’t mean we get a shirtless robert manion as he needs to keep the turtleneck on for later, but the mental image.. I had to pause the video for a good minute to laugh over it. Just everything about it from it somehow being a dumber plan than his scheme this episode, to the orangutan swaying to just.. everything. It’s fucking genius. But Higdens has more than a mighty penis to compete with Ted.. he reveals ted’s phone and Ted ends up revealing himsef by telling Hidgens to go fuck himself. Naturally Lucy is distraught and tries to leave and the professor pulls out his shotgun to threaten her into financing his musical because of course it’s about workin boys. Lucy tries to run, Hidgens tries to shoot.. and ted , doing the first good thing in his entire life, takes the bullet. Lucy gets ted out of there then locks the door behind them, and we get the SCARIEST bit in this segment as Hidgens leans into the camera, simulating the peep hole of the vault door to the ape man inclosure and begs her to let him out. It’s some real Jack Nicholson in the Shining stuff and it’s utterly terrifying, but it’s also an amazing bit of acting. Nice job Rob. So ted bleeds out, as much as Lucy wants to save him he knows he’s not going to make it and prefers to die as Konk, finally happy with himself. And I just realized everyone at Paul’s job is horribly miserable. I mean good god, Paul himself has serious depression issues judging by “Let it Out”, Ted clearly hates himself, Charlotte is in a horrible marriage and Bill just got out of one and has a strained realtionship with his daughter we’ll get into more in a bit. I mean honestly, Mr. Davidson is the only one of them who really dosen’t need therapy.. he just needs to tell his wife he wants her to choke him while he jerks off. For as ungodly hilarious as that line is he’s probably the most well adjusted person there. Go figure.

Naturally being already insane, Hidgens breaks out, still naked mind, and chases after Lucy. Also noticable is apparently some people thought hidgens was manipulated by the blue shit hive mind in TGWDLM. Which.. no. I do love the guy dont’ get me wrong.. but it was very obvious both from the way his musical number was done compared to the rest of the ones in the musical, and his actions that was entirely him, and his playing the music was so he could join, especially since we don’t see the hive mind use any mind manupluation on anyone else. Regular manipulation sure as seen with you tied up my heart and not your seed, manipulating charoltte into freeing her asshole husband so he could infect her and torturing bill for funsies. Just something to get out of the way. Point is he was always crazy we just now have him chasing an innocentish woman with his dong hanging out to prove it. He eventually catches her as Lucy catches herself in one of his bear traps when she hits the woods, because he had those for some reason.. and he has a resonable way out: Just give her the 30,000 dollars he needs for his musical. Thing is she dosen’t have the money.. or hardly any. She spent all of it trying to find the ape man and was marrying jonathan for his money and him for her title. And while it is a bit skeezy, it’s very clear both were using each other and likely knew it, and Lucy still comes out the most moral of our cast here.. granted it’s not a big stretch as hidgens is criminally insane, ted’s a skeeze and Jonathan.. well he’s just a diiiiiiccckkkk. It’s not hard is what i’m saying.. much like hidgen’s dick flopping around in the rain. But yeah he dosen’t take it well, Lucy goes up a tree, which is apparently something Becky did once. But before Lucy can die at the hands of a naked thespian, the REAL Ape-Man shows up and tears Hidgen’s arms off, taking lucy in his own arms afterwords and revealing he remembers her. The two hit it off instantly, it turns out his name is chumby in an excellent gag as that was what Hidgens wanted his fake ape man to be named but Ted froze, and go off into the night together. Awww.. what if a naked ape man played by my boy jeff blim and a british person can’t work who can?

We then close out the segment with a cameo appearance by Jamie Lynn Beatty, who while not part of the cast for this double feature, does get a fun showtune about the ape man. Also fun fact that i found out here on tumblr: That costume is from something Jamie did in HIGH SCHOOL. As in well over a decade ago. Like holy shit, good for her. She looks great in it. But yeah it’s a fun song and a nice way to close it out. Final Thoughts on the Hatchetfield Ape-Man: This was a great way to start things off. This one was more in line with starkids pre-hatchetfield work, a goofy story with some hidden depth inside. And like the guy who didn’t like musicals it was utterly terrifying in spots so yeah good stuff ,utterly hilarous and a great way to bring back some old faviorites while giving us a neat new protaganist. Good stuff.

Watcher World:

Now from a mostly comedy with a horrifying ending to just.. pure unfiltered horror and depression! It’s Watcher World! Bill and Alice are back! And given I love Mariah Rose Faith and Corey Dorris, I was exastic to find this was what the second segment was about.. mostly because I had no idea Starkid had teasers for the episodes on their instagram, or I would’ve known Hidgens was coming. I wouldn’t of known he’d be stark naked for the last third of his story but still, pleasant surprise.

So Bill and Alice are spending the day at Watcher World, a run down amusement park on the edge of town. It’s Alice’s last weekend before College so Bill’s trying to reconnect with her by cramming a good old fashioned family vacation down her throat. Alice is less than enthused, both because she clearly resents her dad in general, and because Deb is throwing a huge rager on the same night. My honest interpretation of that is that Deb fully inteded for her girlfriend to come but Bill sprung this on Alice at the last minute and being pretty oblivious and hating Deb, either didn’t care about taking alice from one last night with her friends and girlfriend or didn’t generally think that through. I mean don’t get me wrong normally i’d side with a parent not wanting their daughter to attend a huge teen rager on their last weekend together.. but it’s also Alice’s last weekend in town for some time, and it’s likely a saturday.. so he has another day, and presumibly had friday before this and while things with his ex wife are tense, fighting for an extra day with her would be understandable and i’ts not like Alice, even if she hates Bill, would really fight him on getting an extra day in the town she didn’t want to leave.

But that’s what I really like about this one that it’s layered. While Alice is slightly more in the right, she’s still shutting her dad out, refusing to let him follow her on instagram (though he does agree with her keeping it private as he dosen’t want Ted perving on her, which tracks, or Ted’s brother doing it which.. wait what?), and being on her phone the whole time to very clearly spite him and rub how much she dosen’t want to be there in her dad’s face. She dosen’t WANT to be at watcher world but instead of trying to talk to her Dad just wants to complain and apparenlty has on all their vacations.. it’s easy to see why Bill is annoyed by his daughter at times and thinks he has to FORCE HER to have fun with him, because otherwise she’d gladly ignore him for their entire weekends together for Deb. She’s so determined to punish her dad for the divorce, that she refuses to see on some level he IS trying, and is just sad about her leaving, and possibly leaving him forever and alone with nothing else in his life but his buddy Paul, whose getting married next week so that’s probably not helping. On the other hand the reason I say Alice is more in the right is that well.. Bill’s a grown ass men. And while, speaking for himself, grown ass men don’t always make the right decisions, and not speaking for myself neither do fathers... Alice’s acting out is understandable coming from an 18 year old whose been through hell over the last year, having her parents divorce being forced to move, loosing her friends. Bill however just kind of uses her age and angst as an excuse to undermine and belittle her feelings. Because he doesn’t like deb for the very stupid reasons of she does pot, instead of assuring her that Deb wouldn’t cheat on Alice with Deb’s former crush Zigg, starkid’s first non binary character in a nice show that Nick Lang wasn’t just covering his ass when he said there’d be more representation in starkid, which in his defense I didn’t doubt him on but it’s still nice he did so at the earliest opportunity and very clearly plans to use Zigg if he can find a nonbinary actor for them.

But yeah instead of assuring his daughter, Bill is just like “well sometimes relationships don’t work out” which while true is clearly his self serving way of trying to get Alice to break up with someone he dosen’t like. INstead of supporting her in her dreams of writing plays, one of which was good enough to get her a scholarship, he tries to act like she has no plans for her future and get her to be a doctor for more security, even though having a secure job has done.. no one at his office including him favors. I mean again, the most stable and happy person at the office is the guy in charge, and even he can’t tell his wife he wants her to choke him out at night. He wants her to choke him, he wants her to choke him while he jerks off, he wants her to choookeeee himmm while heeeee jerrrkssss offfff.

While part of this seems to be that Deb plans to be a starving artist who can mooch off her parents in a pinch, Alice GENUINELY seems to have a full plan for her life. I do get his worrying about her future.. but she’s a smart kid. A bit of a brat but she knows what she wants clealry and clearly has talent. He’s just projecting his own fears on her. He also refuses to accept any responsibility in the divorce.. his hating his ex wife IS valid, as she took his daughter away, uprooted her life a year before graduation and spends gobs of money on impressive outings, the latter two seemingly just to spite him when honestly, it’d of made more sense for Alice to stay with Bill for the year before she graduates and been better for her. However, Bill still doesn’t take responsibly that he too is shoving fun down her throat to try and win her over, hates her girlfriend and refuses to treat her with any respect, and really DOSEN’T know Alice all that well. As we learn during their fun day she has anxiety, and he never knew about it. And the divorce isn’t really an excuse when he had years before that. It’s the real problem of their relationship: Bill feels ENTITLED to a good father daughter relationship, but isn’t working at it and blames his ex wife or Alice for it instead of himself. While Alice isn’t an innocent as i’ve made clear, putting up walls and not telling dad things, given bill ignores her when she DOES try to tell him about her life, it’s easy to see she’s just given up. If he won’t listen why bother. Which yeah i’ve found myself there with my own dad from time to time. Bill’s not a bad person, he genuinely loves Alice, as he says “to the moon and back”, but it’s very clear from this outing he still loves the little girl who loved him unconditionally and not the complicated and mopey adult sh’es become, and dosen’t WANT to adapt to that and fears once she leaves for college she’ll avoid him for good, which isn’t unfounded. It’s a good, complex rich dynamic. Naturally with.. all this I covered up front instead of sprinkling it throughout, the day doesn’t go great, with Alice utterly miserable most of the time, and ending up in a goofy novelty t-shirt due to a log ride. She also has an unsettling encounter with park mascot Blinky, our newest adorable abomination, who not only shows up the moment she does something bad on camera but also stares at her ass, which.. Paul you mind coming back for a second?

Thank you. They end up at the Watch Party, a cheesy kids show musical because Bill apparently equates this with his daughter loving musicals. I mean granted cheesy kids stage shows can be rad just listen to this.

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But I get Alice’s annoyance here. Thus we get the return of the sniggles, who apparently serve whatever eldrich deity is around this week and our first song of this segment, The Blinky Song. Which is catchy as hell as well as hilariously dark (”I’m so hungry”), and uses the stock footage well, as I could buy a cheap theme park ran by an eldtirch eye goblin using stock footage. But yeah it establishes Blinky as always watching and kinda fucked up. Also the sniggles are now clearly the smurgs with Angie’s now being named Sniglette, Jeff being papa Sniggle and James being Snigglotts. However Sniglette considers leaving with another song with a long string of words. Then, things get.. dark as the rest of the sniggles don’t want her to leave and try and mob her, and then Papa Sniggle accidently wings her with a mallet and apparenlty injures the actual performer, before everyone’s ushered out and the usher pretends nothing happened. Good mind screw horror stuff.

Alice and Bill then bicker a bit with my above point being made as Alice TRIES to get Bill to accept some respoinablity but he refuses and blames her mom. It’s now time for the Tear-Jerker, the reason they came. Bill’s buddy Paul says someone died. They also find three other people waiting in line and when one goes to the bathroom the other two start making out which.. yeah, dosen’t help Alice’s worry Deb’s going to cheat on her. So she takes the first single rider pass she can, with Bill worming his way in as to not let her get away. The two naturally end up fighting on the Tear-Jerker before it stops up high, and ends up stalled, with the gloriously returning Nerdy Kid played by Joey from Black Friday being as helpful as usual. Seriously bless them for bringing him back. Man in a Hurry also showed up again, bless him too. Alice picks this time to reveal her fear of heights and anxiety, and an approaching storm isn’t helping. So Bill.. steps up. He helps ease Alice down taking her phone for her, if loosing it due tot he rain and helping her stay calm. It’s a REALLY nice portrayal of an anxiety attack, with Mariah herself apparently having them and thus portraying it really well. As someone who has them myself it really hits home and Bills calm attempts to help her are really heartwarming, getting her to describe her musical for him and the two bonding. It’s genuinely sweet. But.. it can’t last, as Alice freaks out about her phone and Bill for once is in the right, as .. he was you know.. trying to save his daughter having a panic attack, and really stepped up given he was obnovious she had anxiety in the first place, and managed it well. He then gives the utterly heart stomping line “I love you to the moon and back, but sometime’s it’s really hard to like you. “

Just damn. So Alice runs off and both find their way to the fairway. Bill tries winning a doll for Alice, getting into a test of strength where he fails repedatly and is constantly mocked by the barker, played by James Tolbert who also played Blinky..

That should be Tolbert’s twitter handle. Anyway point is, Bill keeps trying even as he wracks up 400 dollars in credit card debt, for a 49.95 doll, before eventually the barker and hte crowd’s jeers get to be too much and he does smack it hard, thinking of all of his pent up rage towards alice.. just as the bell at the top takes the shape of alice’s head and explodes. Bill is naturally horrified by this by the barker assures he loves him.. and that he should totally hobble his daughter misery style to make her not leave him and use the mallet for it. Meanwhile Alice is at the shooting Gallery not wanting the blinky doll she wins, just blowing off steam when she runs into an old crone played by Lauren Lopez. But this Crone has her phone... which suspiciously has a ton of instagram photos of Deb and Zigg making out while sharing a toke. Granted Deb COULD’VE cheated, but given Alice is insecure, and her phone was given back to her by a witch working for an eye goblin.. yeah maybe just maybe Deb was loyal, and if she wasn’t wouldn’t be dumb enough to put it on instagram. But given Alice is already worked up it’s easy enough for her to beliive that her relationships in danger and if she gets there in time she can stop it and oh look her gun is now a real gun and can help her get the keys. So yeah it’s time for a creepy as hell Shining-esque showdown, but if both sides were possesed instead of one. It’s.. a CHILLING as hell scene, not helped by Alice wielding a gun again as both fight. I was gripped the entire time and don’t have much to say utter than HOLY SHIT THIS WAS AS TERRIFYING AS IT WAS RIVITING.

But a crowd gathers as the fight continues.. all with purple eyes which ave been seen on and off, watchers with a thousand eyes.. and with Blinky, now revealed NOT to be a costume probably, above them all. We also get one hell of a line. “This is an amusement park but not for YOUR amusement.”

So yeah I love this sequence.. and Blinky as a villain. While it’s vague if he and Blinky are the same entity.. I’m going with not. It’s not a stretch that like Cthulu, Wiggly has brothers in the black and white, with their own motives, methods and ability to get into our world. Unlike Wiggly.. Blinky’s already here and has no real ambition other than to find people to mentally tear apart and set loose on one another for his own amusement. He doesn’t have grand plans of burning the world.. he just wants to be entertained. It’s an interesting and chilling motive and I hope we see him again eventually. I also believe those at the park are trapped there bound after their own day there and trapped doing whatever Wiggly needs. Except maybe squeaky voiced teen. He probably just complains about cleaning up so much blood. But yeah Blinky is very happy as the fight escalates into the hall of mirrors and Alice looses her gun.. with Bill now poised to strike down his daughter as the mirror reflects the various workers at the park, all encouraging him to kill her... it’s utterly terrifying as Bill’s eyes take on a purple tint.. and we get a POWERFUL use of the score and the “why does it hurt to love you’ bit from TGWDLM.. as Bill sees himself and what he’s about to do, sees his daughter understandably having a panic attack.. and calms her, his eyes returning and the two reconciling. Of course Blinky isn’t happy about this “sappy bullshit” and brings htem into his domain, charging at them. But kinda missing that giving a pissed off teenager a rifle she knows how to use when you have a giant target for a face isn’t a good idea and she shoots him, with him bleeding a flood of purple goo that sends them out. While I doubt Winky’s dead, he is done with them. Our story concludes on a sweeet note as the two find their car, and they finally make as tep forward, Bill having seen almost too late how selfish and controlling he was being and accepting his daughter on her phone.. and Alice realizing her need to open up and after checking Instagram, likely finding out those photo’s weren’t real, she throws her phone in the back.. but not before accepting her dad’s request, letting him in. Sure the road ahead is rough.. but the two have made a good first step towards repairing things and loving one another again in a healthy manner. and all it took was bill nearly murdering her and allice shooting an eye goblin int he face and getting covered in his blood. Cue the credits, a beautiful song called “One Thousand Eyes” with Jeff Blim fucking nailing it. A great way to send off this bit. Final Thoughts: This was the best one of the two. While Ape Man is really good too, this one took the darker tone of black friday, but with a tighter narrative. By focusing on a smaller cast, the darker elements really played better and the conclusion felt more satisfying.. though it helped that BOTH of these tails ended without everyone dying, and while I doubt EVERY story will have a happy ending, it makes things more interesting knowing that the heroes can get a happy ending this time around instead of an apocalypse.

Overall Thoughts: This double feature was great, I’ll be getting a ticket to the next one if I can afford it, and if not i’ll see it presumably in December or next year when it comes on YouTube. Really excellent stuff. So this was a first for me but if you’d like to see more starkid stuff from me, let me know in the comments or my askbox, commission me to review one of the musicals via dm, and if you liked how I did this review follow this blog for weekly ducktales and loud house coverage, and amphibia coverage when that returns, among more fun reviews. And until next time.. don’t blink. Play us out Jeff.

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I really hope this is the ending theme for the series.

#nightmare time #hatchetfield #the hatchetfield ape man #watcher world #ted #professor henry hidgens #Bill Woodward #Alice Woodward #Lucy Stockworth #halloween #halloween havoc #paul matthews #jeff blim #team starkid #starkid

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jackie-talks-about-starkid · 4 years

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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.

#for my independent study #this was rushed because I'm sick but I still mean it #@TeamStarkid #a very potter senior year #a very potter trilogy #a very potter series #avpsy #team starkid #starkid productions #starkid musicals #starkid #musical theatre #musicals #musical theatre is a valid art form you fools

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sadgittariused · 5 years

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y’all, i hate to say it but i’ve got some unpopular hot takes about black friday.

i was excited to watch it, i was super pumped, got the digital ticket for my birthday and i was (and i would love to get bullied for this) disappointed. i usually love starkid, and haven’t disliked one of their productions yet but this one really did not live up to the standards starkid has set (imo). in all fairness, i did miss quite a bit of crucial dialogue due to audio issues with the digital ticket, but i thought the plot and characters were extremely weak. while i usually love following multiple protagonists whose stories all come together at the end, black friday felt more like it had no protagonist. it’s as if each character was given one “i want” song and that was decided to be enough character development for the entire show. while each character’s motivations were excruciatingly clearly laid out at the onset of their introduction, they were never fleshed out more than that.

while the second act was easier to follow than the first, it still left much to be desired. i also felt as though the songs didn’t flow very well in the narrative. most seemed clunky and unpleasant to watch. i expect they will be more interesting in the film version, as the cinematography will, hopefully, add some spice to some of the less-exciting songs.

it also seems as though starkid is leaning into delivering exposition and character backstories through monologue, rather than through song, which i am, personally, not a fan of. while emma’s monologue in tgwdlm wasn’t terrible, i found tom’s and becky’s in black friday to be clichéd and far too long. i think becky’s, in particular, would have been much better delivered through a song (a la “when the world’s at stake”). it felt like a missed opportunity for me. also, black friday’s songs seemed, lyrically, weak. instead of lyrics that actually fit the story, most songs were vague and unaffecting, particularly the finale.

i think the performers were great, though. james tolbert really shined and was the funniest performer in the show. i was also happy we got another villain song sung by joey, and i’m happy to hear dylan saunders sing anything. curt and kim were EXCELLENT additions to the company, and i’m excited to see them more in the future. i also wish corey had gotten a larger part, as he was excellent.

overall, i think the show seemed half-baked, like they could have spent another year on it. the story could have been tighter and the characters and songs more distinct and likable. perhaps, after tgwdlm, i have too high a standard for starkid shows, but this one was not my cup of tea. obviously, i know most people disagree, as i’ve seen nothing but praise for the show online. feel free to disagree; i’m not trying to attack your faves or your favorite show. as i’ve said before, i’ve been a fan for years and am very dedicated to starkid. i could talk for hours about what i love about each show, but this one didn’t excite me like the others have ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#i have more thoughts but imma leave it here for now #black friday spoilers #starkid #starkid black friday

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darrencrissarmy · 5 years

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therealteamstarkid And just like that, it’s over! #starkidhomecoming was a whirlwind few days and we had so much fun celebrating our 10-year anniversary with all of you. Thank you to our audiences, our backers, and every single person who joined us on this journey. It’s been, as always, a pleasure and a privilege. We’ll see you for SK20! 😉

therealteamstarkid Last night was a dream! Thank you to everyone who came to opening night of #starkidhomecoming and to our Friday crowds — we can’t wait to see you!!

brian.holden Thank you to the 11,704 backers who made this show possible! And to @a.j.holmes and @claark for helping us perform these songs better than ever before! Thanks to @coreylubo for keeping this show ALIVE! We’re so lucky that something people really enjoy seeing is us goofing and having fun with our friends. I hope all the StarKid fans out there know that’s never lost on me! Here’s to a wonderful 10 years, and to whatever comes next! 🍾🥂

dylansaunders When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was a cater waiter for the Theatre at the Ace Hotel downtown. I served many a tray of tuna poke, artisanal cheese, and fried chicken. Tonight we perform a sold out show here...and two tomorrow. Feeling endlessly grateful for this moment. Also, tip your bartenders.

jlbeatty But it wasn't a dream. It was a place, and you, and you, and you... and YOU were there! But... you couldn't have been, could you??? [Auntie Em:] We dream lots of silly things when we... [Dorothy:] No. This is a real, truly live place! And I remember that some of it wasn't very nice. But most of it was beautiful. But just the same, all I kept saying to everybody was, 'I want to go home. And they sent me home. *Everyone chuckles* [Dorothy:] Doesn't anybody believe me? [Uncle Henry:] Of course we believe you. [Dorothy:] Oh, but anyway, we're home! Home. And you're ALL here! And I'm never gonna leave here ever because I love you all! And there's no place like home. There's no place like home.... #skhomecoming #teamstarkid #10nniversary #StarkidRewind #starkidhomecoming

jlbeatty When you’re here, you’re family! 🤘#skhomecoming #teamstarkid

merediddys I have a feeling that a lot of us will be sharing this beautiful photo :) What a whirlwind! But yeah... it’s definitely true that over the years we’ve formed a big family. It’s amazing how comfortable we all immediately become around each other. We have been through so many wild and crazy situations together, and muddled our way through this crazy and unprecedented situation we’ve found ourselves in as a theater company with a YouTube following- what a strange and fun thing! I can’t believe that after 10 years we are still coming together to get silly and perform songs together for folks who’ve stood by us since the beginning, or who’ve only just discovered our weird pocket of the internet! What a beautiful thing we’ve all shared, and I’m not surprised that I felt the most “me” yesterday surrounded by buddies in a pool, or on hotel beds, or around a table of yummy snacks. I miss this and am so happy we have this week to remember forever!! Love you all!! My plane is literally about to take off so I gotta go!!! BYEEEE!! #SK10 #starkidhomecoming

claark #tbt to a distant memory, last weekend.

Preparing for and putting on #starkidhomecoming was an amazing and overwhelming experience - so much so that I didn’t really have the words for it when it ended. And now I still don’t!!! But I’ll just say I’m super grateful for the experience and most of all for this family. To another 10 years!!! ❤️

thejoemoses IMPORTANT SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE:

For the next year my job requires me to stay off social media, so I’ll be taking a little break and making this account private starting Monday August 5th. I’ll be back in one year!! In the meantime here’s a little reflection on the past week... One week since the end of #starkidhomecoming but I’m still feeling the love. It was one of the most incredible weekends of my life, and I’m constantly reminded how lucky I am to be a part of something that has positively impacted so many people.

As most of you probably know, I’ve moved from performance into law, so this will be the last @therealteamstarkid event I do for a little while. I’m starting a new job soon, so please send me your best positive vibes.

I’ll be back in a year— have fun in the meantime!

SEE YOU THERE PANDA BEAR!

slowpez8 Whew. What a whirlwind! #SK10 was a smashing success and, true to form, a bonkers, FUN, exciting time. I’m sorry I have no pictures! What I come away with after this decade is a feeling I can't really pinpoint. It is loaded with emotions and memories, some good and some bad. We have grown so much together, and sometimes that growth took a lot of pain to get to. We have hurt each other, disappointed each other, argued and gotten on each other's nerves more times than I can count. We have also raised each other, apologized, and tried to be better for each other. I am most proud of that. We were thrown into a very bizarre & exciting situation that none of us were prepared for and we have gone through all of it together, for better or worse. I know this isn't a rainbow and butterflies post, but it's honest. And I think 10 years deserves that. This group is my family. They have called me on my shit, made me laugh harder than anyone else, and have been my companions. I am so very grateful for them and I love them deeply, and love can be complicated. And that is ok. And to all of you amazing, wonderful people that have followed us through any part of this journey: you have been the biggest joy of this whole thing. Your enthusiasm, love and energy is infectious and appreciated more than I can say. You are the reason we do this. Thank you for sticking with us. What a ride. ❤️ #skhomecoming

laurenusesawalker This weekend was incredible and I’ll remember this experience for the rest of my life. Thank you, @therealteamstarkid for bringing us all together to celebrate this anniversary! It was an honor to work and hang with everyone! And thank you to everyone who came to see the shows! Y’all are the best! #sk10 #starkidhomecoming

tifwilli Amazing, special, magical, fun, exhausting, crazy, and any other adjective you could think of!..I can’t thank @therealteamstarkid enough for including me in this incredible show! I know I never actually went to Hogwarts but damn it’s good to go back!:A big thank you to everyone who came, supported, and sent sweet messages! It means so much!!:It’s funny, I’ve only done one show with Starkid but during the last number of tonight’s show I couldn’t seem to stop crying. It’s pretty indescribable to see people you have know for years(and new friends too!) grow as artist and see how much they have impacted people’s lives. And to be a small part of it is so special.:I could go on forever (I kind of already have) but I’ll end by saying “you’re the part of me that makes me better...”Thank you thank you thank you!...#starkid #teamstarkid #sk10 #starkidhomecoming #backtohogwarts #la #losangeles #actor #performer #universityofmichigan #goblue #grateful #thankyou

#starkid homecoming #team starkid #starkid #sk 10 #sk 10niversary #brian holden #dylan saunders #jaime lyn beatty #meredith stepien #clark baxtresser #joe moses #lauren lopez #lauren walker #tiffany williams

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migleefulmoments · 5 years

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" I can see him sneaking odd socks in his pocket to switch them out in the car. To that end, have you noticed he is not wearing socks these days or his special rings or bracelets. So, I guess they have someone checking his pockets now". Oh my god, what are they on? Seriously, they should tell where they buy drugs because that stuff is gooood. Their mental health worries me...

That post was bonkers. Just imagine if you believed that Darren is changing socks in order to “act out” against his oppressive team...the one he hired and called “a family” and “one of my best friends”. It’s just insane that instead of seeing a ringless, bracelet-less and sock-less Darren as a sign that maybe they were wrong and those things didn’t mean what they all built up in their heads, nope instead they see it as proof that his team is just bearing down harder. They can’t even see that it would mean he’s an even bigger spineless jellyfish than they imagined.

For those of you who don’t read abby’s blog this is a mssterpost in how tinhatters delude and scam themselves.

This was sent to me on a private post and I want to share. I want to say, people do care. I care. D and C need to know there are people who care.

I am certain they know this, but the problem is, as we all know, he has no control over his life. D is a slave to an industry which is more worried about power and profit, rather than the well being of their employees. Okay, the celebrity life can be super good if you play by the rules and tow the company line. When you do not, the lawyers arrive with the morality and non-disclosure clauses to put you back in you place -- now their have been times when using these clauses was the right think to do, however in the case of D it is not not

D is a talent and his talent is going to waste. Well that is what we see. However, I believe D did not go into this year blindly. I think he has contracts that need to be fulfilled -- SK, Royalties and even Midway.

D apologized when accepting an award for the lack luster year to come. Well, what does that tell you? He knew this would happen. He did not go into this year blind but rather with his eyes wide open with a plan. I believe D (with C at his side) is fulfilling the last of this contractual obligations to his old team. (I think there is a new one working in the shadows.) That is one reason why he is doing little. (No, he didn’t apologize for a this year being lackluster- he joked that it can be fleeting at the critic’s award because critics can be critical. He also didn’t have a lackluster year- he was planning all the pre-production stuff for Royalties- HIS SHOW and for Hollywood as well as StarKids, Elsie, his wedding and trips to watch all of his friends get married. I have no doubt that Darren sees this as one of his best years ever).

Now, with that said, we know RR has a stake in EF. The festival is something RR can hold over D. Yes, the line up is late, but I would not be surprised if D stepped back and told RR to get the people lined up. I agree with part of the statement above ... D was not himself in this announcement. EF has lost its luster .. for now.

The shan wedding (wait who’s Shan?). I have lots of theories about this and how it came about. The encage came out of nowhere obviously catching D off guard ... thus his three week funk. He knew the wedding would come and he has to play the role. However, he made his point with the tongue in cheek and not helping his beloved wife into the car. (I love how the two moments before the wedding are somehow proof that Darren was not in the wedding and override the plethora of elated photos, comments he’s made about how great the day was and all the kissing photos). He continues to make his point and I believe will continue to do so (yes but to you a point is not wearing socks so.....)

Over the years we have watched as his team promoted her over himself. We have seen them strip away those things in his life we (I) believe are important to him (Socks, rings and bracelets?). Why? Because they have control of his life -- who he can see, what he posts, where he goes and what roles he takes. There are a few things they cannot fully control -- how he stands, sits, makes eye contact, some of the items he wears. I can see him sneaking odd socks in his pocket to switch them out in the car. To that end, have you noticed he is not wearing socks these days or his special rings or bracelets. So, I guess they have someone checking his pockets now. (Cuckoo)

I agree the D is himself when he sings. Up their he is free for that short while. He has his line up but he can change it very easily just by opening his mouth and letting the words out. (THIS IS IT-. Here is where they lay out how the ccers delude themselves from reality by focusing on song lyrics. Ignoring that most songs are about love and longing and many are sad or contain a sad verse before the big empowerment ending- this his Darren expressing himself according to ccers. They can ignore everything Darren actually says and does in his real life and claims he is crying out. This is a version of “hearing with their eyes”. It’s from “How to Scam Yourself for Dummies”)

I find it sad that in this day and age such control still happens in the entertainment and other industries. Before retiring (another old person), I was subject to, and still am in a way, to a non-dislosure agreement. After digging around I have found that mine is nothing like the contacts enforced in the entertainment industry. Back in the early 1900's the industry controlled every aspect of your life. It appears things have not changed.

Does D deserve our pity ... no. Does he deserve our support ... DAMM YES!!!

No one should have their lives controlled like this. The US Constitution guarantees freedom. What is going on is not freedom. It is servatude. (Cue the violins, the American flag and the tears)

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twentyghosts · 4 years

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My Science Boyfriends Mundane AU Masterlist

I have had some folks kindly ask if I plan to write another mundane AU after finishing Never A Breath You Can Afford To Waste, and the answer is: yeah, probably, eventually? Every time I finish writing one of these things I figure it will probably be my last, because how much more could I possibly have to say about the topic of: “What if these characters we know as superheroes were in love but didn’t have to literally save the world and could just have a normal job or whatever?”

And then every time, a small mouse inside my brain whispers some new idea to me and I end up writing another one. But, in the meantime, here are all the ones I’ve written (since I think it can be hard to dig them out of my AO3 page since there are so many one-shots between the longer stories.)

These all have Bruce Banner/Tony Stark as the primary ship. Perhaps you will enjoy them while I wait for the small mouse inside my brain to start whispering, “Science Boyfriends, but hear me out, what if this time they’re insurance adjusters?” Or whatever. Check the AO3 links for full tags/warnings for each one.

Never A Breath You Can Afford To Waste (professor AU, 102K words) (featuring several lovely illustrations!) After abruptly trying to close down Stark Industries' weapons division, Tony Stark has been ousted as CEO by the company's board of directors and is attempting to cool his heels and rehabilitate his image with a cushy one-year appointment as a guest lecturer in engineering at Shield University. Dr. Bruce Banner also has a one-year appointment at Shield, but his is a lowly adjunct instructor position that doesn't pay enough to meet the high cost of living in Southern California. Bruce is trying desperately to keep anyone from finding out he's living in his car, while Tony is desperately trying to ask Bruce out and can't figure out why he won't accept. But when Bruce gets pneumonia, things change. Bruce has to trust Tony with his secret, Tony has to play nursemaid, and they both have to learn how to take care of each other—and still get their final grades turned in on time.

By Any Other Name (high school student AU/flower shop AU, 12K words) Bruce Banner has a hard enough time keeping his head above water between all of his afterschool jobs and the demanding coursework at Shield Academy, the prestigious boarding school he attends on scholarship. He doesn't have time to spearhead a Valentine's Day flower sale fundraiser, and he definitely doesn't have time to date Tony Stark, no matter what his best friend Nat and her girlfriend Pepper keep telling him.

Snow Falls, Love Rises (Hallmark Channel holiday movie AU, 35K words) Tony Stark's ambitious new plan to convert all of his factories to manufacture solar panels and other green energy technologies causes some concern in the small town of Snow Falls, Ohio: the home of the StarKids toy factory. Despite the toy factory's popularity, the town's Green Party mayor, Bruce Banner, actually supports the solar panel initiative. However, Bruce's deputy mayor Darcy Lewis goes behind his back to invite Tony to be the grand marshal of the town's annual Winter Joy Toy Parade, in an attempt to convince Tony to preserve the toy factory. Tony accepts, secretly hoping to use the event as an opportunity to reconnect with Bruce. Unbeknownst to the citizens of Snow Falls, Bruce and Tony haven't spoken to each other since their boarding school romance came to an abrupt end. Can their love be rekindled, or is it as dead as a string of vintage Christmas tree lights?

Is This Heaven? No, It’s Brooklyn (Good Omens fusion AU, 60K words) cowritten with @godlessondheimite After supervising the wrong child for 11 years, Crowley and Aziraphale discover that the Antichrist is actually in Brooklyn, and they have one month to avert the Apocalypse. Although they still need to figure out a few minor details (like how to stop him, and what name he's using), they book an Airbnb and head across the pond. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner, the last living descendant of Agnes Nutter, is also figuring things out, like how can he best answer his curious mentee, Adam Young’s, many questions about the planet? Why couldn't his ancestor's prophecies have been less nice and more coherent? What role will Stark Industries play in causing the end of the world? If he took down his Airbnb listing months ago, how did two strange Englishmen rent it out? And is he really destined to live the rest of his life with the asshole who plowed him over with a Bentley? The combined forces of science, religion, and coincidences--plus the hyper-competent Pepper Potts--might just be enough to avert the Apocalypse and give everyone a happy ending.

Snap Decisions (high school academic decathlon coach AU, 52K words) High school physics teacher Bruce Banner is feeling adrift after he returns from two years in the Peace Corps and takes a new job as the coach of Infinite Horizons Academy's academic decathlon team. Their rival team, Midtown School of Science and Technology, also acquires a new coach when stressed-out CEO Tony Stark finds himself in need of some community service hours. Despite their schools' rivalry, the two coaches become friendly with one another. When New York's power-hungry Schools Chancellor Thanos abruptly closes half of the city's public schools, the two teams are forced to merge. As things begin to crumble around them, Bruce and Tony get a little help from their students in their struggle to save their schools--and each other.

Sorry If You’re Starstruck (Hollywood AU, 60K words) While recovering from an on-set injury (and the resultant problem with painkillers), billionaire playboy genius filmmaker Tony Stark sets his eyes on his next project--an adaptation of the Gamma Garcia books, a widely beloved young adult sci-fi series. The books' notoriously reclusive author, Bruce Banner, rejects all film offers, but he reluctantly accepts Tony's friendship. Their bond deepens into something more, even as personal and professional setbacks threaten their chance at a Hollywood happy ending.

Judging By The Cover (Library AU, 22K words) (featuring very cool collaged illustrations by @allofthefeelings for @wipbigbang!) Bruce Banner is a generally mild-mannered reference librarian at Malibu Public Library, but he loses his cool when local billionaire philanthropist Tony Stark proposes revitalizing the library's technology, at the cost of its collection of print books. Bruce tries his best to persuade Tony to preserve the library, but accidentally ends up dating him. Despite moral support from his friends and coworkers Darcy, Jane, and Natasha, Bruce isn't quite sure if he's cut out to share his life with Tony Stark on either a personal or professional level. Will children's librarian Thor's malevolent brother Loki ruin the summer reading club? Will the paparazzi ever leave Bruce and Tony alone--and more importantly, will Bruce and Tony ever see eye to eye on the subject of e-readers? And when is everyone going to stop asking Bruce for Fifty Shades of Grey?

#fanfiction #marvel #no powers AU #science bros #science boyfriends #bruce banner/tony stark #i have written a third of a million words on the topic of #what if these superheroes were in love but didn't have to be superheroes #*chin hands*#what if though?#long post

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makesanexit · 5 years

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A few underrated musical recommendations:

1. Spies Are Forever.

This show is about Agent Curt Mega set 4 years after an incident which involved his partner Owen dying in an explosion which was happened to be his fault. The show is about him coming to terms with the death and becoming a spy again and trying to keep a bomb out of the hands of The Deadliest Man Alive. It is there where he meets a russian spy who takes the bomb and the show is about him going after the spy and trying to get the bomb back from the villains. I love this show because its so well written and the songs are all bops. Each twist and turn is well brought up and there's a BIG twist at the end which works really well. The entire thing is on YouTube on the Tin Can Bros channel and the cast album is on spotify so if you have some free time you should check it out.

2. Six.

This was one of the first professional musicals I saw live so obviously this is going to be on the list. This show is about the six wives of Henry VIII coming together to perform a pop concert. One of them decide to put on a competition that the queen with the saddest story will become the leader of the group. One thing: this show is short. The writers made it so this show doesn't bore the newer generations so its only 75 minutes and features heavily pop-influenced songs (which also plays into the fact that it's set up like more of a pop concert than an actual musical). I just love it and the atmosphere in the theatre is unlike any musical I've been to since then. The cast album for this is on spotify so check it out and dance along!

3. The Lightning Thief.

This show is the Percy Jackson adaptation fans have been waiting for for so long. It follows 12 year old Percy Jackson who finds out he's the demigod son of the greek god Poseidon and has been wrongly accused of stealing Zeus' master bolt. It follows him going on a journey across the US to return the bolt he didn't steal. It's funny, heartbreaking and there's a huge theme about parent abandonment which fits the show perfectly. The music is largely rock based which (in my opinion) fits the character and story of Percy Jackson perfectly. Idk what else to say, the cast is talented and plus I've stanned this for over a year but yet its still underrated. Plus it's on a North American tour right now! The cast album is on Spotify so go check it out!

4. Twisted.

This show isn't exactly underrated but I love it. It's a Wicked-style retelling of Aladdin from Jafar's perspective by Team Starkid (the company behind A Very Potter Musical) with Aladdin being a surprisingly fitting antagonist. It shows the development of Jafar as he comes from a place where all the people of the Magic Kingdom (yes it's set in the Magic Kingdom and yes they take advantage of it) love him and support him but after he's elected to work at the palace they all turn on him while he tries to fix all the economical problems in the Kingdom. This thing is chalked full of Disney and Wicked references and is funny as it is emotional. The performances are exceptional and the songs are incredibly catchy and the entire musical is extremely quotable. The whole show is free on youtube on the Team Starkid channel so if you have nothing to watch this is a recommendation to waste a good 2 hours without actually wasting it.

#spies are forever #six the musical #lightning thief musical #twisted #musicals #underrated #tin can bros #starkid #broadway #west end

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connormurphy98 · 5 years

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all the odd numbers!!

1. What was the first musical you saw?

Annie

3. Who was your first Broadway crush?

1st? Oh God who even knows man. Probably Lea Michele? Lea Salonga? Who knows, it was probably a woman though

5. Name four of your dream roles.

Katherine- Newsies

Mrs. Lovett- Sweeney Todd

Diana- Next To Normal

Medium Alison- Fun Home

7. Favourite cast recording.

Lawd knows I can’t get away from Dear Evan Hansen

My close 2nd is Sweeney Todd's Original Cast Recording.

9. Favourite show currently on Broadway.

I bet you guys can’t guess it……. Dear Evan Hansen

11. Best stage to screen adaptation?

Like I’ve never seen the stage version of hairspray but… hairspray.

13. Favourite #ham4ham?

Being a major star wars nerd i want to say the May The 4th be with you one with JJ Abrams

15. If you could revive any musical, which one would it be and who would you cast in it?

This is so hard what the fucK but Fun home and so far I just have some things cast like Jenn Colella as Alison, Me as Medium Alison, and Olivia Puckett as Joan, Isaac Cole Powell as Roy/ Mark/ Jeremy, Cynthia Dale as Helen cause I saw her in Toronto and literally d i e d. I don’t have any of the kids, or Bruce yet though. I want to put J. Robert Spencer as Bruce but it’s not definite yet. It’ll come.

17. Do you watch broadway.com vlogs? Which one is your favourite?

All the time and if you want the honest answer I don’t think I could possibly pick.

19. What do musicals mean to you?

What kind of question is this? Musicals are honestly my entire life. Since I was little this has been the only thing I could see myself doing so I have no clue how to properly answer this

21. Best Disney musical:

Newsies. Or Frozen. Frozen was fucking fantastic.

23. Which musical fandom has the funniest memes?

Oh god I kind of want to say Hamilton because some of my favs come from it.

25. Name a Broadway star you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

Ben Platt! I mean I know he’s already a Hufflepuff but!!!!

27. A Broadway duo you love.

Ginna Claire Mason and Mary Kate Morrissey - I know it’s not technically a “Broadway” Duo because they were the 2 name witches on the tour of wicked, but holy shit they’re my favs.

29. If you could make a jukebox musical, what artist or genre would you pick?

Omfg I hate jukebox musicals so much but If I really HAD to pick something, I don’t actually hate the idea of like a country musical? Like Tim McGraw or Garth Brooks ya know.

31. What musical has made you cry the most?

Like over the longevity of my love for it or while seeing it? Dear Evan Hansen for Longevity, Frozen for while Seeing it

33. Current showtune stuck in you head:

More Than Survive- Be more Chill

35. If you could perform any ensemble number , which one would you pick?

NO THERE IS SO MANY! Can I pick one show? Frozen. I’d love to be in Frozens ensemble so Hygge, Queen Anointed, Fixer upper, etc

37. What are some costumes you’d love to try on?

Sunday In the Park!! I would love to try on Dots dresses!

39. Favourite Starkid musical:

I’m not gunna lie, I don’t know a lot of Starkid musicals! So based off my small amount of Starkid rep in my knowledge I gotta go with a Very potter musical yo.

41. What are some lines from musicals you really like?

Fuck there is way too many. A lot come from Company for me “don't be afraid it won't be perfect. The only thing to be afraid of really is that it won't be.” especially

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riisinaakka-draws · 7 years

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It has only been a little over a year since I started watching the show and joined the Black Sails fandom. I posted my first fanart exactly one year ago and it was the one above. Thus far I have drawn over 100 of them. I tried different mediums and styles, both for practice and for capturing the essence of the things I wanted to share. Some of them are great, some are silly, some are a bit out of character or not so good in other ways and some ended up surprising me in many ways. All are nonetheless very precious to me.

Under the read more there's a list of all my doodles thus far. Most of them feature Flint, Silver or both of them (there will be more of the other characters in the future, no worries). I have to admit I laughed quite a lot while going through these again. This is a really long post.

This is a list to show what sort of things there are and also for my own amusement and archiving purposes. The list is in chronological order, from first to the latest.

I tried to make this as concise as possible, but the tag/navigation page is here if you want to find something specific or don’t want to go through all this:

- Flint takes care of Silver's leg in the darkness of the captain's cabin.

- Some quick doodles of Flint, ballpoint pen

- Sharkdate cuties (really scrappy doodles of Silver gazing at munching Flint)

- Progress. A continuation to previous pic. Silver holding a cup, covered in blood and looking affectionally at Flint. Here’s a giffed version.

- Silver and Flint go for a night walk in winter and Flint finds the streetlights amusing. Modern Au, beanies and the BS logo

- “See any treasures, Capt'n?” Billy to Flint who is looking at something “shiny” with his spyglass.

- What if Silver stole that certain ponytail and made it into "a rabbit's foot"? And what if Flint had a medallion with pictures of the Hamiltons and later a lock of dark curls... I returned to this idea several times after this, lol. (still secretly wishing that anyone would write a ficlet about this).

- Overload of Blackbeard - several doodles of different adaptations of BB

- Shark hunting. Flint has the shark on his lap and Silver stands in front of him. Composition inspired by that infamous Wolwerine and Nightcrawler cover.

- A gif of Blackbeard with flowers in his beard (I share a birthday with Ray Stevenson, that's why).

- a quick sketch of displeased Jack

- The Red Lollipop. Flint eating candy which is distracting to Silver, inspired by this awesome post (x). Silver steals the sweets and peels some potatoes. Bonus: Randall and Betsy the Cat.

- Draw me like one of your quatermasters... Flint doodles sleeping Silver in the Captain's log.

- Random sketches of Silver and Flint. Learning to draw their faces

- Flint with a horrible mustache and Silver with a long braided beard. (I should redraw this someday..)

- Flint takes Silver for a ride (modern Au with motorcycles). The Walrus gang follows "the flagship"

- Black Sails moomin AU, part I (I had so much fun with these).

The domestic modern beach au serie with 15+ doodles, various characters, inspired by this hilarious post (x). - Jack takes pictures of everything and Vane ends up buried in the sand - Silver puts some lotion on Flint (Billy tosses people up in the background) - Max and Anne Bonny enjoying each other's company - Rogers is going to get hit by a beach ball "accidentally". Anne, Max, Vane and Jack in the background - Ben Gunn shows his ship kite to Billy Bones - Vane and Flint swim butterfly. Silver (*.*) - Vane flips his hair like a merman, Eleanor is drinking and enjoying the view. - Mr Scott and Mr Gates enjoy their drinks at the bar while others fight in the water. Max and Eleanor gossip together. Anne and Jack hold hands like otters on swim rings. - Silver and Flint sleeping on the sun, Flint has a book on his face - The Ranger Crew swimming. Jack is slathered in sun lotion, Anne waits for him and Vane makes a joke. + Mysterious swimming trunks. - Silver is the sneakiest shit and likes to creep underwater and drag people down by their legs. - Silver and Flint eating ice cream + some early sketches in a gif - the Fucking Warship (minivan) rides to sunset, Vane is forgotten in the sand but do not worry...

- Silver and Flint sing the song "Dynamic Duet" from Starkids' Holy musical B@tman!

- Nooooooooo! Flint shaves his head, Silver doesn't take it well.

- Silver's character development. From little shit to actual scary fuck

- A HUG. (silverflint, done before s4. I really needed a hug)

- Bloodthirsty Bunny & Squinting Squirrel, (furries, i am so sorry)

- Flint brings water to Silver, a scene from the show. <3

- Sweetness of touch. Flint gets his hair/head touched by his loved ones.

The Walrus crew acquires some chicken. A lot of them. And a parrot. - Billy and Joji are tending them - people playing board games and ignoring the chickens - a coc- I mean a rooster between Silver's legs - Silver holding some chickens and Flint meeting "the Captain Flint"

- Flint gets his ginger crown back...sort of

Chickens, part II. Flint sends his regards. Teach has taken Anne and Jack to fishing and they get a surprise "gift" from the Walrus.

Fanart about Silverfin, a thrilling and unbeliavably funny (nsfw) silverflint fic by @jadedbirch and @zoinomiko (can’t tag u for some reason..).

Go read it :D I made some (sfw) fanart inspired by it (spoilers). - a comic of the tragic night - reunion and crowns (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)

- (a recap, not really a tutorial) about some of my messy work methods.

- Anne Bonny, without her hat, ready to kick your ass, season 3

- A portait of Max

- Every fashionable pirate captain needs a hat! Silver buys some silly pirate hats. Inspired by @vowel-in-thug's fic (part V, nsfw) and the CBeebies Bedtime Story etc.

- "Support". Silver and Flint approaching the Maroon camp.

- A portrait of Long John Silver on his way of becoming the legend

- Swords and time. James McGraw - Captain Flint. Sword placement comparison, gif experiments etc. (I really like this one)

- A canary. Flint finds a sad-looking caged bird aboard a merchant ship and then reads books to it in his cot. Inspired by @old-long-john's sweet and beautiful fic (x). Also thanks to @captain-flint for spotting the bird cage in s1.

Inktober 2016, 20+ doodles, various characters - Silver, a sad little face doodle - A bringer of death and destruction (Flint as an angel of sorts). Quick doodle with a brush - Silver and Flint. A little doodle with an ink-dipped cotton swap - "Hungry", Silver and Flint find the whale and prepare to hunt sharks. - "SAD?" NOT TODAY! There's always Silver Lining. Silly and shitty puns. - "Hidden", The treasure has been buried. - "LOST", Silver and Flint look for a bird on board the Walrus. - "ROCK", Ben Gunn and Billy Bones play rock-paper-scissors. (sorry, still no better doodle of them) - "BROKEN", Benjamin Hornigold misses his chair. - "Lock the door", Flint on the floor of his cabin when they were becalmed ;_; - "TRANSPORT", Anne Bonny takes Jack Rackham to safety on a horse. - Madi, a little sketch - "Dufresne admires his new tattoo" - "TREE", What difference does it make? Captain Naft shares his insight. Froom and Crisp agree. Morley and Randall (+ Betsy the Cat) are not impressed (for obvious reasons...). - "RELAX", A nice afternoon at the seaside with some of the brothel girls - A little sketch of John Silver again, because I cannot resist him. - "Flint has a meeting with Death". - "ESCAPE", Flint has retired and Silver still sails the seas. Occasionally he visits James and steals some of his baked goods (with some help from his crew and birdies). - "FLIGHT", a sketch of a parrot on a napkin - "SQUEEZE", Jack Rackham enjoying his bath - "LITTLE", a little sketch of Max and Anne kissing in little rain, under Anne's huge hat. - "Surprise", Charles Vane lurking in the water - "And then! You won't believe what the.." Hal Gates and Billy Bones spend their free afternoon gossiping and having fun - "Forget-me-not" / "one dozen", Miranda finds some familiar flowers and thinks about Thomas. - "BURN", Thomas, James and Miranda, just eyes. Inspired by the powermetal duet "Wish I Had An Angel"

- Oooh, What does my reflection shoooow ~. (Lovable) Little shit.

- Accidents with the spyglass. Flint acts like an asshole, Billy and Gates are having none of it, Silver is yet to learn.

- Death builds a raft and follows the Walrus.

- Portrait of Eleanor, the Merchant Queen of Nassau

- "long johns and puns". Silver is looking for a new pirate style and Billy offers to help.

- Black Sails Moomin AU - part II

- Silver at the wrecks, light and visual practise

- Eleanor Guthrie and James Flint, looking in / out. visual practise, parallels and contrasts

- My Heart Will Go On, but I'll keep your ponytail and get a parrot for my duets. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

- Muldoon's tattoo ;_;

Some of the following have season 4 spoilers:

- Eleanor does some embroidery (of bees and fuck-yous)

- How Silver gets his new crutch (Israel Hands is handy)

- Flint and the Wanderer above the sea of fog

- Flint's mouth saying FUCK infinitely, a gif experiment

- "That's my wee lad, Gimli." Berringer's locket and asshole Rogers.

- For a moment there was a Hat Trio. Teach, Jack and Anne

- Silver and Madi, canon kiss

- The Spare Ginger. Silver doesn't like Eleanor's plan. Madi and Israel Hands try to comfort him.

- Eleanor Guthrie, a green portrait

- Long John Silver must make a tough choice, while Flint enjoys his capture at Eleanor's expense

- All those extra spyglasses in 4.08. Maybe the answer was Israel Hands' hoarding.

- Fresh air on the balcony of the Walrus. (a drawing of the ship at night). There're celebrations on the deck, Flint and Silver have a private talk.

I find it endearing how this list ends with the balcony one. Like a parallel (ha!) to the first one, where Flint and Silver are having a private moment on board of a ship, although it is a different ship and at a different time. A year ago I had no idea where this all would lead me and how much I would learn and get to experience *pats my past-self in the back awkwardly and fondly*

Looking back at them (doodles) I feel both proud and slightly embarrassed of my enthusiasm. I have never done anything like this for any other fandom. I have never felt so much and had such an urge to engage in this sort of thing.

This show, its creators and crew, this fandom. Just something unbeliavable. I cannot find the words to say how much I appreciate you all. The brilliancy, the humour, the love in all kinds of forms. I am so glad I stumbled on this show (it was a gif or a fanvid about ep 2.05 that made me aware of this show, btw. I cannot remember it clearly anymore and for a moment I thought Crossbones was a pilot for Black Sails and almost missed everything, but that's a story for another time...)

Know this: I have loved sharing this experience (the show, the fandom) with you and I appreciate everything you have given to me or shared with me. I will treasure this. (I apologize not thanking more people individually, but this post would’ve never reached its end otherwise).

*throws hearts and forehead kisses to the best and inspiring fandom and the greatest show that broke my heart and healed my soul so many times*

All the possibilities and love to you. Thank you <3

(This is not a goodbye, btw. There’s still so much more to come!) (◠‿◠✿)

P.S. All this started as doodles so that’s why I have kept using that word eventhough it doesn’t really apply to many of these anymore...

#black sails doodle #anniversary of my descent to black sails hell and heaven #<3 #i can't really think of any tags for this #a list of things I have drawn for bs thus far #for archiving purposes #what a journey :D #I hope this is readable #there are several unfinished ones waiting but i am not going to spoil the fun yet #i hope there aren't many errors in links or tags #I won't tag or thank more people individually (at least in this post...sorry)#(better to not have too much stuff in one post)

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