#npmd theory

[musicalslugs]

Grace and the Lords in Black: an analysis.

Okay, so, this may be obvious; although I haven’t seen anyone mention this as of yet. The link between Grace Chastity and the Lords in Black is clear, I mean we’ve all agreed that she seems to be like that, and Dirty Dudes must Die highlights her “corruption” plainly.

That being said! I think there may be more.

Firstly, the Lords in Black mention/talk to Grace first, before Peter and Stephanie (the arguable proper protagonists of this story).

Sure, Blinky’s motif is obvious, it’s of eyes, of watching and of observation. But to speak to Grace first, even if it seems (on the surface level) that it’s just to flex their omniscience and make her uncomfortable, is a little strange. Especially since they then speak mostly (only) to Steph for the rest of the song [The Summoning].

Secondly, because if that were all this wouldn’t be a very good analysis, we have her (Grace) and Nibbly being echoes of eachother.

“Swallow” and “devour” are synonymous. Both fit into Nibbly’s motif of consumption. Now, Grace could’ve said anything. Absorb, harness, control etc. I think the wording here is particular. Not exactly the same, but clearly within the same ball park.

What is exactly the same though, is Grace Chastity and Wiggly.

This may seem a bit out of left field at first, but hear me out.

In The Summoning, it is said that “Wiggly wants his Wrath”, Wrath is a vice, a sin. It may not be the exact opposite of Chastity, however Chastity is to do with restraint, whereas Wrath is very much, not so. Moreover, Wrath can be defined as ‘a great anger that expresses itself in a desire to punish someone’. Now… who else could be described as wrathful? Obviously Max. And Grace. I mean, her song is called Dirty Dudes must Die. As well as being a direct reflection of Max, it implies that she wants to harm someone. Punish someone though? Well, yes. Grace says “This is the consequence of what you’ve done!” - she must believe that death is a worthy punishment for their actions (being ‘pervs’). Thus, Wrath.

Lastly, and this is where the exactly comes in, Grace and Wiggly both say the same things. (Again, of course, I could write another analysis on how Grace and Max reflect each other beautifully by also saying the same/extremely similar things) The difference between Grace saying similar things to Max, is that she and Wiggly aren’t similar. It’s the same.

Example A) Stephy / Stephie.

Upon rewatching Nerdy Prudes Must Die and listening to the album on repeat, I noticed that no one bar these two call Stephanie: Stephie. I know Grace calls Ruth, Ruthy and Peter, Petey- so her calling Stephanie, Stephie, makes sense linguistically. That doesn’t take from the fact that Wiggly is the only other ‘person’ to use that particular moniker.

Example B) “bloody bits”

A particularly strange phrase that these two say. However, not really. The point of this analysis is to point out the links between the Lords in Black and Grace Chastity, specifically Wiggly and Grace. By pointing out the parallels in their idiolects, I have come to the conclusion that they are not only linked but INCREDIBLY similar.

Both are characters that use cutesy, almost childish language (“mommy spot” / “belly-well”) to disguise the violence, the wrath that lays beneath the surface. Wiggly (as shown in Black Friday) uses it as a facade. Throughout Black Friday and throughout The Summoning, he expresses himself as non-threatening (“We’re all pally-wals.” etc) before eventually showing what’s beneath the surface (“..deck the fucking halls!” / “We don’t give a shit about your phone!”). Both times are as abrupt as each other, showing that Wiggly has a fairly short temper. Grace doesn’t necessarily have a short temper, instead she has periods of ‘sin’, when stressed: Dirty Girl, calling “God a son of a B-Word”, smoking (after), having sex with Max, the scene of her ordering hot water etc etc. The visage, her carefully constructed facade, slips. Wether it’s because deep down she doesn’t believe in God (possibly shown in her “are you religious?” conversation with Shapiro), or that due to her upbringing she’s being confined, restrained, controlled, and this is when her ‘true self’ begins to peer through the cracks.

Either way, these are two characters who use similar themes (one of childishness, the other of purity/innocence (which can also be linked to childishness)) to cover their violence, their real selves.

Uhhh- anyway, watch Nerdy Prudes must Die on Youtube- it gave me brain worms.

[musicalobsessed-spacialanomaly]

NPMD Theory

Felt the need to publicize my Nerdy Prudes Must Die theory, so here it is:

You know how much is sucks that Ruth and Richie aren't acknowledged or even mourned after "The Summoning"? You know how people headcanon that Ruth and Pete met at tap class, but he clearly stated "Mom said it'd help me make friends. Boy, was she wrong!"?

My theory is that Grace had good intentions. She didn't like seeing her friends so sad, so in the time between the banishment of Max and Homecoming, she uses the Black Book. She finds some kind of memory modification spell and completely erases the fact that Ruth and Richie even existed - or at least the fact that they were friends (seeing as Miss Mulberry mentions they've lost classmates, plural) - from their memories. But she's also really fucked up and doesn't realize how shitty a thing that is to do.

We know the Lords in Black are capable of all that, considering their magic is what causes Miss Holloway to be forgotten every time she's declared dead.

I dunno. I just got mad like everyone else about there hardly even being a line about their deaths and figured this made some amount of sense.

[transwhitaker]

Npmd Theory: Grace's sacrifice WASN'T her virginity.

Okay, so we all know the scene: Pete and Steph are alone, Stephanie shoots but Max catches the bullet. There's a whole lot of time before Grace revealed her plan, but what was she doing in the meantime?

She had the book. She had the direct line of communication with the Lords in Black, and from the time of them running from Max and them being found again she is alone with this line. So who's to say she didn't summon them, didn't make a bargain?

And now y'all might not believe me on this: "Grace Chasity gave up her virginity! Her most cherished item! That's that! " I hear you say, and I have to laugh. Her virginity? Her most cherished thing? The same thing she fantasized about giving to Max Jagerman? I'm sorry, but I don't buy it.

Her most cherished item? Her religion and devotion.

I believe during the time alone she either contacted the L. I. B. Or made a realization and offered them a bargain: She would devote herself to them in order to stop Max Jagerman.

And the lords would know her potential, they know her morals and have seen what she's willing to do to make everyone align with them and they'd agree because of the entertainment. What's more entertaining then good Christian girl turning to eldritch gods in order to do their bidding by murdering humans who follow their natural desires?

They'd be fools to not agree

[ratsarecute4]

Okay, so I've seen a lot of people in this fandom with the headcanon that we never see Stephanie's mom because something happened to her and she went missing. I've seen it go one of two ways, one being that she was Honey Queen, and another being that Solomon traded her to the Lords in Black for power and his position as mayor.

I like the second one better for a couple of reasons because it gets me thinking like, when Grace, Pete, and Steph made the deal with the LiB, it was to give what they cherished most in return for stopping Max. We can assume that Solomon made a similar deal: what he cherished most in exchange for power. In npmd Solomon very obviously wants nothing to do with the Black Book, so we can assume he feels regret over the deal, and doesn't want to ever interact with the LiB again. So, what if the reason he is such a dick to Steph is because he doesn't want to love or cherish anyone again? Because the LiB can take that person from you? And that love becomes a weak point that can be used against you?

He doesn't want to cherish or love Steph, because then the LiB might try to take her away.

Either that or he's just a dick, which could well be it.

[spac3-pup]

Quick!! Get this theory!

In Dirty Dudes must Die, Grace says that "the souls of the pervs make her strong", and by that we can imply that she kind of "eats" the souls. (?) And that influences something on her, she starts acting like Max because she "ate" Max's souls.

Maybe not Grace, but the Lord's in Black, SPECIALLY Nibbly ("swallow his soul, I wanna lick it"), they come with an agreement with Grace, obviously not the one in The Summoning because that ended after she did that with Max, maybe she created ANOTHER one by invoking the LiB again. Maybe Nibbly made an agreement where they share power, Grace can end with the pervs and he has the power.

I don't know if it makes sense bc it's been scratching my brain all day long but I can't really explain it how, but anyways ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

[teague-broski]

Mashing together this theory and another one (but I can’t find it for the life of me) where Grace is the reason NPMD happens, more specifically that the Lords In Black have a hold of Grace before the plot even sets in motion.

First piece of ‘evidence’ is the whole Dirty Girl scene. The whole thing is a sexual fantasy which Grace doesn’t even realize is happening until halfway through: “Max Jägerman? What are you doing in my bathroom?” And the fact that he’s wearing a crucifix which sorta seems out of character for him, but fits what I imagine Grace sees as the ‘ideal version’ of Max.

But also, she is woken up from her bath fantasy by her dad, meaning it was more of a dream than a ‘daydream’. Also, she holds her hand up in confusion as if she didn’t know she was doing that in the first place??? Very sus

Next piece is more the vibe of her character the whole musical. (Keep in mind I haven’t watched any of the Nightmare Time episodes so I don’t know much about Abstinence Camp but I’ve heard some stuff about her being unhinged there as well. Still, my theory is specifically about Grace in NPMD.)

Anyway, it seems really weird that this girl is clinging to the idea of being pure and not a sinner (she wouldn’t even let Max hold her books because ‘she’s only 18’, seeing that as being a step toward her and Max being “in carnal embrace”) and here she is lying to her family, lying to the police, stealing a gun, and cursing at God. Also also, SHE DISMEMBERED AND HID A DEAD FUCKING BODY. And lying is the sin she’s worried about? Talk about one fucked up moral compass lol.

And my last piece is the summoning. This one is a two parter cause there’s a couple things happening here. First is the actual summoning part. When Grace, Steph, and Pete are on the floor, they look pretty terrified and confused, but right before the Lords in Black show up, Grace makes a face of either pain or discomfort which is very different from Steph and Pete’s terror. Grace is literally wincing and curling in on herself. Just something me and a few other people noticed.

And the second part of the summoning is Blinky. He literally says that they’ve been watching her and they know all the bad things she’s done. Isn’t that kinda weird that the Lord’s in Black have taken an interest in Grace and ‘haven’t done anything about it’? Between Wiggly and Pokey, they love getting involved in their little shenanigans in Hatchetfield but this time they just sat back and did absolutely nothing? I don’t think so.

Anyway, maybe I’m delusional and none of that makes any sense or I’m a damn genius lol. I would love to hear your thoughts on this about whether or not it works!

Also here’s the link to one of the theories I saw:

[t1r3dr3pt1l3z]

OKAYYY, I’ve got no clue if someone has said this before but first: what do y’all think about the theory that Ruth used to actually dance but quit because of her anxiety?

Second: do you think Ruth and Peter could’ve met during tap dancing lessons?

[4n0therp4intb4llepis0de]

anyone ever think that these two lyrics might be referring to the same problem:

,,I was deep in a twitter fight about a problematic puppy” -Stephanie Lauter, High School Is Killing Me

,,I’ve never seen darker times and i covered the protest live at the Hatchetfield Kennel” -Dan Reynolds, Hatchettown

Idk, i may be imagining things, but its a cool theory

[hollowaluminumvessel]

I watched NPMD with my dad last night and noticed something

as the title says, me and my dad were watching nerdy prudes must die last night and it was his first time watching anything starkid related(he'll be coming back for tgwdlm, let me tell you), but I've already seen it like four times. and I just made this connection that no one else is talking about, leading to believe that I'm the first to realize this, or I'm wrong and stupid(which is far more likely).

but in the scene where they prank max, Peter is dressed as a ghost and says max jägerman but with vibrato or something idk. and Max is drunk right then, so he thinks it's real. and sure, he found out a few minutes later that it wasn't real, but his only experience with a ghost sounded all OOooOOOoooOo. and of course he probably sobered up a little when he fell three storeys and was stabbed through the chest. but when he came back as a ghost, he calls out richie's name the same way Pete called out his name.

TLDR; Max Jägermans ghost took notes on the dead soul of lin manuel miranda.

[thesmallestpotatto]

NPMD Deepdive/Symbolism, Spoilers and rambling ahead

We all know that NPMD is about highschool and the thing that come with it, like bullying and sexuality. As a highschooler myself it really resonates with me, specifically with how the handle adult-child relationships. In the song "Hatchet Town", adults are frantic about the disappearance of two teens, throwing out wild and untrue accusations. ("There's a man and the loose/And he's got a gun." When we know it was Grace mostly and Max died from getting impaled). When the kids are in the opening number screaming about what they're upset about and that "Highschool is killing [them]," (while making an impaled gesture in the choreo might I add) the adults are getting the wrong idea. And then you take a look at who exactly they're blaming. Reynolds/Ziggy, Mayor Lauter, and Donna. They go immediately to blaming politics and drugs (and they/them pronouns) because to them it was never about the kids. The kids are actually pretty happy 👍

[phantominzie]

Just a fun concept but what if Richie doesn't even realize he's dead for a while and watches his friends go about their lives with them not looking at him or talking to him. Watching his best friends go about their crumbling lives while he can't even do anything to help them. Like, seeing Max float about school, watching him kill off Ruth and several other people in town and not being able to help his friends.

[fun-k-boards]

Even if it's just because Clyvesdale's colours are green, I prefer Wiggly being behind the beef

wait I just realised as soon as “fuck you Clyvesdale go get fucked” starts, everyone is lit green ??

IS WIGGLY BEHIND THE HATCHETFIELD/CLYVESDALE BEEF

[rockrosethistle]

If you guys liked the whole "Stephs flannel matches Peter's suspenders and bow tie" thing then this costuming detail is in tgwdlm gonna fuck you up.

When we get our first scene with Paul and Emma, the two are dressed in their respective main outfits. These are the ones people tend to associate with them.

But throughout the show, as they get closer and bond, their outfits become more and more similar. Pretty soon Emma's lost the apron

Then at the professor's house, Paul loses the jacket

and by the time McNamara is infected, Paul has his sleeves rolled up and Emma's bow tie has come undone.

At this point, the two are at their most aesthetically similar, and also the closest they've been the entire show. This is moments before the helicopter crash and their failed kiss. They remain this way for a good chunk of time...until Paul comes back

It's like some fast-paced foreshadowing. Emma remains in her changed state, the same as her character, but Paul is back to square one. He's wearing the same outfit he was when they met, and they no longer align. She doesn't know who he is anymore.

I don't know if this was intentional (and if it was, no one explained it to Jon) but it plays out so damn well.

[shsl-simp]

blehh lib doodles

[epitome-of-an-openbook]

No, because people keep acting like Grace Chastity being consumed with a lust for the power that Lords in Black provided her doesn't count as a world ending Cataclysm - but it very much does. Not only has she shown little to no empathy for others throughout the entire show and only ever felt bad for lying to authority figures and being horny - but the final song of the Musical is essentially a reprise of Max's Murder Song/Manifesto which places her as a parallel to Max. Max sings about how he's going to kill ALL the Nerdy Prudes and not once but twice tells the audience that it doesn't matter if someone is actually a Nerdy Prude because he makes the rules and gets to decide who is or isn't a nerd etc etc. Grace's take is that she is going to kill all the Dirty Dudes but she's literally singing it to a guy who has, throughout the entire musical, done nothing to indicate he's a pervy/dirty dude and only kissed her after she asked him too. Like Max, Grace Chastity doesn't actually care if someone genuinely fits the framework of her stated victimology, because she has the power so she gets to make the rules.

Honestly it's like some people didn't think about the implications.

[nobodysdaydreams]

One of the funniest things about “Hatchet Town” is that over the course of three musicals and Nightmare Time, most, if not a significant number Hatchetfield residents HAVE committed murder or been accomplices/accessories to murder in at least one timeline. To the point where if you randomly accused pretty much anyone in town of being a murderer, there’s a good chance you’d be right.