#nerdy prudes must die musical

[ophii]

my sister sent me the base stock photo for this with the caption "npmd" so i did what i had to do

[showtoonzfan]

Anyways I want to talk about Nerdy Prudes Must Die real quick, Starkid’s recent Hatchetfeild musical. I love the show, it’s amazing in so many ways, I can’t say much about it that others haven’t already said so I won’t be really vocal about how good it is, at least yet. That’s why I really want to share just a few criticisms or nitpicks I have, cause I don’t see a lot of people talk about that and I’ve personally been itching to get these out lol. Keep in mind I love the musical to death and I just want to see if other fans have the same opinions I do or not, if you disagree that’s fine! Spoilers for the musical!

- My biggest complaint is that I feel like Stephanie doesn’t get enough screen time. Not that she’s not developed or fleshed out, but after rewatching NPMD a million times you’ll know that the two main characters that get the most screen time are Grace and Pete. (Especially Grace cause she steals the show, not in a bad way tho). However, Steph is supposed to be a main character but to me she kinda feels like a side character pushed to the back. I’d say this starts when the kids plan to prank Max, and moving forward she eventually goes from someone being at the front to a follower until the near end where they have to summon the lords in black. I will say of course it does make sense, for a cast like this you have to move main characters to the back to leave room to develop others, that’s fine, but I still can’t help but feel that Steph lacked more.

I think of all characters she should have gotten her own song too, I was disappointed to hear that she actually DID have one and even a reprise until it was cut. Jeff had said it was about her being a popular kid and how she struggles with that, and I think it would have been really interesting to see, it would have added more. Though of course cut songs are cut for a reason, Jeff had said it didn’t fit or add anything but it’s still something I wish we had.

- Some fans have already said this, but it is distracting how glossed over the deaths of the characters are, mainly Ruth and Richie. Max’s death makes sense here, because he was a jerk and the theme of how the town and the kids didn’t care for him when he died and glossed over his death was done on purpose, but for Ruth and Richie…the characters they were actually friends with didn’t seem to care. For starters after Richie dies no one notices he’s gone, and when the gang do find out he dies, nothing really comes of it other than a “wait Richies dead?” Then the characters just move on, Ruth dies and the same thing happens to her, only a “wait she’s dead?” line and that’s it. Pete was the closest to these two and we don’t even get to see him mourn, or a simple line indicating that. I don’t blame the characters themselves but if you asked me if I thought the writing for the musical was just a teensy weensy rushed, I’d say yeah.

- That also leads to my other problem, “If I loved you” feels misplaced. The song itself is good but it takes place legit right after Ruth dies, a character who got an amazing send off. There isn’t time to process it at all because now Pete and Steph are arguing over their relationship, and after that Grace bursts in to kick off them leaving. I feel like “If I loved you” should have been placed before “Just For Once”, that would have been slightly better.

- Okay so this is just a nitpick but I didn’t like “Best of You”. For a horror musical (especially for Hatchetfeild) it feels VERY forced and preppy and it just threw me off I’m so sorry. That’s why I was thankful “Dirty Dudes Must Die” was the true ending because that fits more with the universe and the tone of the show. I guess it makes sense though because Jeff had revealed “Best of You” was an in universe pop song that the students were just singing, so after I heard that it made perfect sense on why I thought it was so cheesy lol because it wasn’t supposed to be a song for the show itself.

Still like some others have said, the way everyone is so happy in the ending throws me off. I get that they establish a few weeks had passed but after ALL of the hell the characters went through only to cut to them carefree at prom it’s….off putting. Like Steph is literally an orphan now and Pete’s friends are dead. And it doesn’t get addressed or acknowledged AKSKKSSM 😭

And that’s pretty much it regarding issues I had with the musical. It’s damn near perfect, I just think the script is a little rushed and the pacing is kinda all over the place. Other than that? It’s amazing and I’ll definitely talk about it more soon. Feel free to disagree with me!

[0-patches-0]

finally watched Nerdy prides must die and im so happy about all the callbacks to previous musicals

[februarys-wednesday]

starkid fans when they see Normal Man and his Barista Crush onscreen for 0.5 seconds:

[samglyph]

I’m not immune to slasher comedy coming of age musicals. Apparently

[misterpseudonym]

[chatterghosts]

doodled the Spankoffski bros 🫶

[khruschevshoe]

Jon Matteson does not get enough credit for his physical acting skills. In the "Nerdy Prudes Must Die" number when he "levitates" and then crashes to the ground? And in "Let It Out"? He fucking SELLS the emotional impact of those scenes and I'm tired of pretending that he is not one of the best things to happen to modern Starkid. Mariah and Angela definitely deserve their due, but my man is KILLING IT OUT HERE

-Signed, a disgruntled fan who still holds that "Let It Out" was the best scene in The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

[harmonizingsunsets]

Running Gags in Hatchetfield Musicals pt 5 | Smoke Club

[crapload-of-crafts]

The complete Hatchetfield-verse poster set

All of these are up on my Redbubble if you would like to buy a sticker or poster of these designs!!!

[damnthosedoldrumsarebanging]

Grace Chastity is the most character ever.

She is 18 years of age and thinks carrying books is equivalent to sex, she’s got the school bully wrapped around her finger and doesn’t even know it, she announced her desire for anal at the dinner table, she wanted to fuck the quarterback so bad she decided to ruin his social status instead and accidentally murdered him, she can bury a body well, she refuses to swear, she’s held several people at gunpoint, the first time she swore she called god a son of a bitch, her chastity is the most important thing to her, she lost her virginity to a ghost, she doesn’t even drink caffeine and instead has warm water, she consumes the souls of men after making a deal with eldritch horrors.

GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GRACE CHASTITY I GET WHY BILL WANTED ALICE TO DATE SOMEONE LIKE HER

[ophii]

ruth is my babey,,, also ruth totally had a crush on steph "i think im in love with you" GUYS

[ghostface-knight]

i've got some big news for the person who left this comment on the black friday trailer

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

the guy who didn't like musicals (2018) // nerdy prudes must die (2023)

[ren-is-real]

HATCHETFEILD TRIO

Woah man NPMD made me actually lose it with hyperfixation so here’s the musical trio raghhh!!!!!

I was watching nightmare time for the first time while drawing these and I had to pause for a day to process jane’s a car because what the fuck guys

[alilarxy]

Stephanie has got a gun, tra-la-la-la how fun 🎶