#AND DARREN AND STARKID ALL BACK TOGETHER

[secondstar-acorn]

can’t think of anything to say other than it was everything I could have ever expected and wanted and hoped for. seeing them perform truly is an electric experience and I am so, so grateful I got to be there. I’ve never felt such overflowing joy and love in one room before and that truly is down to what a one-of-a-kind group Starkid is. I’m so happy and a little emotional that it’s over but like it’s sung in days of summer, “don’t wanna see you go but it’s not forever, not forever” ⭐️💜

[justarandombrit]

Okay well as you may know from looking at my blog for five seconds, I saw the matinee for Starkid Innit. During the interval and after the show I wrote down some notes. I tried to get them in chronological order but my memory is dogshit and I definitely missed some stuff, I hope you appreciate it though.

Outside:

. EVERYONE SUNG GRANGER DANGER

. IT WAS SO GOOD (except for the high note lmao)

. EVERYONE SUNG DAYS OF SUMMER

. EVERYONE A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE SUNG GOIN' BACK TO HOGWARTS

Act 1:

. The Nightmare Time sting punched me in the face

. The shout-out to the confused parents

. BRIAN + MEREDITH IN TGWDLM IS EVERYTHING TO ME

. High School Is Killing Me, Literal Monster and Nerdy Prudes Must Die all got mashed together!

. Corey!Richie is my Roman Empire

. Jaime in NPMD….

. Jaime had a different line to PJ’s original in Literal Monster. I couldn't hear half of it but it was different

. JEFF!MAX

. THE AUDIENCE SINGING RICHIE'S PART!!!!!! I'M NOT A LOSERRRRRRR

. TOGETHER!!!!!

. OUR DOORS ARE OPEN

. Jaime singing Sami/Harry ABOUT HER DOG (Nori)

. The audience whipping out the phone cameras

. CLARK SINGING I WAS GAVE ME SUCH INTENSE CHILLS

. Joey finally giving the white, male side characters attention

. Joey changing “I know I'm not a star” to “I know I'm not Clark”

. He pointed the mic at the audience for the “DEFINITELY NOT!”

. Joey mistimed his jump 😔😔

. Genuinely his best performance of Sidekick yet

. Joey making fun of Brian for not getting a big solo

. Brian kept pretending to beat him up, it was brilliant

. Not Over Yet is definitely Brian's song, shut up

. Brian accidentally singing the same verse twice (How does he always mess this song up?!?!?)

. My mum took a photo during the “EVIL PLAAAAANSSSS” bit and it was right when Brian was choking Joey

. “So look alive and don't forget”

“FORGET WHAT?”

. FEAST OR FAMINE

. Rogues Are We still goes so hard

. Rogues Medley without Kick It Up A Notch is weird, but Kick It Up A Notch without Dylan would definitely be weirder

Intermission:

. Ice cream :D

Act 2:

. Starting with We Got Work To Do is so iconic

. THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE IN THE CLIMATE, SOMETHING'S IN THE AIR, WE FEEL THE HEAT, NO NEED TO DEFINE IT, WE DON'T REALLY CARE

. MEREDITH REQUESTED BACK ON TOP!!!!!!!! AND IT WAS SO GOOOOD!!!!!!!

. Joey shouted “Draco, get on the floor!” at Lauren

. ALL THE UNDERRATED SONGS

. I love how it was hyped up like it was going to be Boy Toy, and then just straight up wasn't lmaooo

. Brian finally got the slow, sexy Hideous Creatures (Take that, Nick Lang!)

. Okay I'm trying to remember the order of the underrated songs they did

. Hideous Creatures (Lauren)

. Pays To Be an Animal (Corey) (He didn't sit in the spotlight and someone yelled “TO THE LEFT, COREY”)

. Get In My Mouth (Jeff) (He fully sprawled out on the stage it was hilarious)

. Land of the Dicks (Jaime)

. Hermione Can't Draw (Meredith) (She sung it so well I briefly didn't recognise the song)

. THEY MANAGED TO WORK IN LUPIN / BRIAN CAN'T SING YESSSS

. I genuinely cannot remember what Brian sung

. Gotta Find His Dick (Joey, and eventually everyone)

. The entire “Oh you wanna know where I got my shirt?” bit

. Brian, Jaime and Joey got it from Primark, Meredith got it from “Primed-mrak”, Lauren’s was a family heirloom, Corey got it from Gucci and Jeff got it from America, from Pri-mart (He made the guy on the drums do a baddum tsh)

. COREY SINGING SHOW STOPPIN' NUMBER. OH MY GOD. (The entire crowd joined in, also, Jeff and Jaime as Steve and Stu)

. Everyone cheering so loud when Joey and Lauren came on stage, and them claiming we had no idea what they were going to sing, and it was actually a completely new song (it was Granger Danger obviously)

. And them continuing to claim it was new throughout the song

. As I expected, I almost cried during Not Alone. Also apparently Darren thought it was going to be a big hit??? And just begrudgingly let them use it for A Very Potter Musical

. Super Friends!

. So sad Jeff’s mic was so quiet for “I WANNA BE A MODERN DANCER”

. THEY SUNG WANNABE BY THE SPICE GIRLS

. The fakeout of everyone leaving stage, then the band coming back on and playing the start of Goin' Back To Hogwarts

. “Darren's not here”

“I'LL DO IT”

. THE AUDIENCE DID THE FIRST PART OF GOIN' BACK TO HOGWARTS ALL BY OURSELVES

. JEFF DID DYLAN'S PART (but he didn't do “All of you to [city name] :( )

. Jeff pointed at various parts of the audience for “Welcome hotties, nerds and tools!” and then whispered “I'm so sorry” immediately after

. Singing (/ shouting) Goin' Back To Hogwarts along with hundreds of other Starkid fans was so exhilarating, I loved it and I almost cried (also I'm gonna be so hoarse tomorrow)

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss Says Maybe Happy Ending Is a ‘Phantom-Level’ Spectacle

If you'd asked Darren Criss years ago what his dream stage role was, “Hedwig was it,” says the Golden Globe winner. Well, Criss did perform the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway in 2015. So in the decade since, what is his new dream? Answers Criss: “If I'm being really honest, it's being able to originate something that hasn't been done on Broadway yet.” So, you can say his newest Broadway project, the new musical Maybe Happy Ending, is another check off the bucket list.

When speaking to Criss about this show in July, he hadn’t yet started rehearsals. But he spoke about the musical with a palpable excitement—after all, it is the first original musical he’s done since his days with the musical theatre company he co-founded, Team Starkid. In recent years, the Emmy winner (who rose to mainstream fame after starring in Glee and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) has done mostly revivals on the stage, such as Little Shop of Horrors and American Buffalo.

----------

But to Criss, the particular pleasure of doing something like Maybe Happy Ending is the opportunity to utterly surprise the audience. “​​Being part of something this original is always a bit of an exponential curve,” admits Criss. “It's always a tough climb at the beginning, because people might not have an instant familiarity with it. But I think that it pays its dividends real soon, once they see what they're in for.”

For Shen, though Maybe Happy Ending follows robots, it touches on deeply human questions—both Helperbots are nearing the end of their lifespan and so they must decide if they want to take that emotional leap to make a connection, even if it means they might lose each other. “It feels like there's a ticking clock at the end of it,” she says. “And so, they're a little bit forced to live life to the fullest while they have this opportunity to do so.”

It’s not just the show that’s new. This is Shen’s Broadway debut. While Criss has over 15 years worth of experience under his belt, Shen is a relative newcomer. She was born and raised in New Jersey; her parents immigrated from Shanghai to America. They both play the violin, passing down their musical aptitude to their daughter, who grew up playing piano. She graduated from the University of Michigan (Criss’ alma mater) in 2022. Though she is still green, Shen’s credits are impressive: This year alone, she starred in the Off-Broadway musicals The Lonely Few and Teeth—both of which were favorably received. “I suppose, in a way, it feels like arriving,” Shen says with hesitancy, as if she doesn’t want to spoil this lucky year. “I think it's a cautious arrival. It's so wonderful and such a blessing and gift to be working with this particular team.”

Criss met Shen during her final callback for the show, which was a chemistry read with Criss where they sang a song together (though years earlier, Shen had attended a master class Criss held at the University of Michigan). More recently, the two have quickly bonded over being trained musicians who eventually became actors (Criss plays guitar, violin, and a bevy of other instruments). 

When it’s pointed out that he’s now effectively a Broadway veteran, Criss exclaims (to the giggling Shen), “I cannot fucking believe it. That sounds so twisted, like so Twilight Zone. To me, I've always been the youngest, like, I was always the kid.” But then, he brings it back to his co-star, which he does multiple times during the interview saying, “She'll kick so much fucking ass. That's one of my favorite parts about being in this, I get to forever now be part of the inevitable rise of a young star.”

It’s not just talk. Criss recently had Shen perform multiple songs at his music festival Elsie Fest. When asked what they’re excited for in Maybe Happy Ending, Shen’s answer was getting to sing the score. “The uniqueness of the sonic world—the music is so ethereal, and it's so gorgeous,” she enthuses. “The music feels so beautifully understated, but also, it's orchestral and sweeping. And not to mention, the people who are already attached to the project are people that I look up to in my own career so much.”

There is the assumption that because the show has a chamber musical sound, and it has four cast members, that it’s a small show. Think again, teases Criss: “It's four people, and the story is a ‘smaller’ story, but it has really, really big ideas.” So much so that in July, Maybe Happy Ending announced it would be delaying the start of previews by a month, citing supply chain issues that prevented crucial components of the set from getting to the theatre in time.

Though, Criss admits, “it sounds like we're covering up some nefarious reason.”

Laughs Shen: “We had to clear our beef.”

“Yeah, our beef,” smiles Criss. “Supply chain delay sounds like, kind of made up, but it's literally that.” Though he can’t say much more about what this intricate set design entails, other than it will utilize “cutting edge technology” to match its robot protagonists. As he excitedly puts it: “We're talking [Phantom of the Opera] level of production. This is a spectacle…I can categorically say that this will be something that you have never seen the likes of before on a Broadway stage.”

[rosebug3]

All the welcome hugs during homecoming are sooooo sweet but I love this screenshot I found somewhere, especially cause Darren, Joey, AJ, and someone else who I have a few guesses from the back of her head, all came together cause they're still wearing their backpacks.

I know from watching I insta stories that some of Starkid were driving around with each other and hanging out while they were all in town.

awww, carpooling! 🥹

[inhale-fandoms-exhale-asdfghjkl]

Highlights of the 10umentary for me:

Brian’s special boy song

Everyone hugging. Most precious thing in the world! (I also wish I could hug everyone in Starkid)

Brian’s commentary about hugging. Actually Brian’s commentary in general is amazing.

Joey, Darren and Dylan hugging “combine your bodies to become one”

Nick trying to pretend like he’s not stressed is me always.

Brian talking to the guy in the next car who thinks he’s talking about Star Wars. “People in LA are so nice”

“Here’s Diane. Diiiiannne. She doesn’t care” a queen.

“Well I’m not finding a DAMN thing at forever 21” 😂

“Yeeah baby” - Nick is so precious I cannot.

Nick and Jon dancing at 9:42-9:45

Darren is such a sweetheart

Classic Darren missing his line 😂

“I haven’t seen a lot of people in a long time” Same Joe. Same.

Omg Britney on FaceTime 🥰

Bonnie gushing about seeing everyone again. Ahhh 🥰

Everyone jamming to “make the most of it”

Omg Carlos I forgot about he was here for this. How dare I? Ahhh 🥰

Carlos: “I decided to come incognito. You know I didn’t want anyone to recognise me on the street so um you know I tried not to advertise myself or what I do”

Also Carlos: drinks from a The Flash water bottle as he says this.

The chaoticness of Carlos and Britney trying to sing together on time on FaceTime

“Is this unusual for Starkid” “no this is how we do all our shows”. At least they’re aware on how chaotic they are.

Darren is literally seems like one of the most confident people ever so hearing him talk about how he’s intimidated by AJ and Clark is crazy to me but I love it. Again, he’s such a sweetheart.

DARREN AND DYLAN HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR 20 YEARS? HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS? I live for this friendship.

Jaime crushing them vocals 😍 not that she ever doesn’t bc she’s a literal queen!

“That’s what happens when you lock a bunch of people in a rehearsal room and sing about bugs and... Batman”

Everyone gushing about Jim Povolo. As they should.

Just a random side point but Brian’s editing skills really don’t get enough credit. All of his bts videos have done consist of him picking one thing to just continuously play throughout the whole video which is probably just from his love of repeating any bit for as long as possible until he exhausts it. Like Nick going “I don’t have time for that”. My favourite instance of this is the AVSR bts with joe saying “it’s a funny scene” and the sunglasses over Corey. Anyway, excuse my rambling. I love Brian, okay.

Nick’s dancing montage is cinematic perfection. 24:30-25:20

Richard, lily and Jim forgetting to come in for going back to Hogwarts 😂

“We just have to make sure we know what we’re doing”. Has Starkid ever known what the hell they’re doing?

Tyler fucking up his line 😂🥰

“They’re doing Voldemort is going down? Nobody likes that song” 😂

“Did you guys hear it’s the 10 year reunion” “yeah Liam”

Joe having no fucking clue what his lines are and people just assuming he’s doing a bit is just classic Joe Walker.

“This feels like an awful fever dream. A nightmare” - Also known as the year 2020.

“For those that know me, I think I and other people make fun of me for being verbose but I’m very particular... especially when dealing with Starkid. I want it to be concise and genuine.... I haven’t been in a Starkid show in a long time so it’s nice to be able to be back” I stan a man whose aware of how extra he can be. Also have I mentioned he’s a sweetheart?

“Darren’s speech was too verbose. It has been cut down for time” Brian cutting like half the speech is so savage and I love it.

Everyone jamming out to tgwdlm is a mood

“Honestly, the Brant Chant is one of the most humiliating things that will and continues to happen in my life and the fact I already had to experience it once in this run is uh-” “I MISSED THE BRANT CHANT!?!” “It already happened” “FUCK”

“It’s consistently traumatising and a highlight for everyone else except me” poor Brant! 😂

“I think everyone just loves Brant and it happens naturally”. Same.

I saw Joe Walker Interlude come up on the screen and my first thought was “I don’t know what’s about to happen but I just know it’s gonna be great”

“Horrified audience members”

Darren recording and high-fiving everyone 🥰

“I remember very distinct first impressions of people and it’s mainly by what they eat” y’know, I might start doing this.

“Joey Richter showed up with a subway pizza and I was like you don’t do that”

Lauren Lopez pulled out over her purse just a sweet potato that was pre-cooked with no toppings. Just a shriveled pre-cooked potato” - she honestly sounds so traumatised from this 😂

Nick’s bee sting story 😂

Everyone else: admiring the fan art. Brian: “What the fuck?Where’s Superman/Junior/Flopsy?”

“YOU CANT PUT LUPIN IN IT!?” I’m sorry Brian, we all know that you’re characters are iconic.

“WHAT THE FUCK!? Oh I wasn’t in this one”

I don’t know why I laughed so hard at Darren in the background of Joey talking about his drink but it’s hilarious.

Joe having a five minute warm up song that no one else is allowed to participate in is just peak Joe.

“I cried last night but I won’t do it again” - aww I love you Nick 🥰

Meredith really is just a ball of sunshine isn’t she? I love her. I feel like I don’t talk about her enough.

“It’s been ten years and we finally learnt how to put on a show”

“What’s weird about how it’s been is how not weird it’s been. If that makes any sense” no it doesn’t Nick but we love you anyway.

This video is really just an AJ and Clark appreciation video and I am here for it.

The SKH version of to have a home is my fav version of it so I’m crying a little.

BONNNIIEEE!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

“Who knows, if America survives and the world is still habitable in the year 2029, maybe we’ll see you for the 20th” this made me laugh and cry

Liam’s got a phone call is such a bop honestly.

Also I love all the new starkids having no fucking clue about this song but just vibing with it anyway.

I literally love Starkid with my entire heart and I am so thankful for them releasing this bts finally because I needed it big time.

[spaceorphan18]

I read with interest your view and that of @hopefulobjectmiracle about tumblr Klaine fandom. Is there more shipping these days than 2010-15? I ask because there seems to be a smaller group that only ship Kurt with Blaine but there seems to be a huge rise in Kurtbastian and Hevans shippers. Likewise, there’s many more pezberry or faberry shippers. And a lot more of those shippers trying to discredit Blaine or Brittany as OTP for Kurt and Santana. There seems to be new younger people joining Tumblr declaring a love for all things Klaine, and then a week later shipping Kurt with everybody else!! Has there been a change since the show aired?

Hi Nonny! :)

Hmmm.... There's not really a clear answer to this because the way shipping evolved is different than people just finding things now.

There are kind of two different things going on here -- Kurt related shipping and non-Kurt (blaine/klaine) shipping. I can't tell you much about non related Kurt things -- however, I will say that Faberry was HUGE when the show was on. It's a subsection of the fandom I never interacted with but it was around in season 1, and loud enough that the show makes nod to it from season 2 forward. Brittana was always around, too, and the reason Brittana became a thing on the show was, partly, due to fans crying out that they should be a couple -- and more than the throwaway joke the writers made in the first season.

I don't know what happened to those ships over time, or how the evolved since the show ended -- I'm sorry :/

But now, I will tell you the epic history of Kurt shipping. (Again. i should really dig out my old notes on this, lol)

Here we go long post...

I found it! I'm going to quote myself so I don't have to write it out again, lol. This was originally from an ask about the BBO (Better Boyfriend Olympics), but it'll work here, too.

Okay, so let’s go back to 2010 when there wasn’t a Klaine fandom, there was a Kurt fandom.  A lot of the BBO stemmed out of the Kurt’s Boyfriend Shipping wars of 2010.

Back then, there was just a Kurt fandom, and a lot of opinions about who he should date.  Believe it or not, Kurt was shipped a lot with the other guys on the show, there was a healthy dose of Kurt/Finn, but Kurt/Puck was huge, and there was a smattering of Kurt/Mike (I never really did see much Kurt/Artie now that I think of it, which is kind of funny in retrospect, but I’m sure it’s out there.)  Anyway - when the show announced Kurt was getting a boyfriend – well, things began to get heated up.

Three big ships emerged

Kurt/Sam - because the rumor was that Sam was originally supposed to be Kurt’s bf (probably not, but that rumor was big at the time).  Btw, they were the canoe ship (I have no idea why) and was also known as Kum (rolls-eyes).  This ship’s fanbase was so huge and lasted so long, that the show felt the need to address it head on in Season Two’s Rumours (not a joke).

Kurt/Karofsky - Also known as Kurtofsky, they were also called themselves the Pirate ship (god, Idk why, shipping wars are weird, yo).  These people were also really passionate, mostly about Dave, but liked the whole idea that Kurt would save Dave and they would have this weird - enemies to loves love affair or something.  I don’t know, I could never get past the squicky assault aspect, but whatever.

Kurt/Blaine - which. at the time, was… the biggest possibility? It’s funny cause the other two ships were just as big as the Klaine ship, and really the fighting became over who was going to be the best option for Kurt.

And that’s the thing.  Fans of Kurt were so passionate about who was best for Kurt, because everyone had seen him go through hell and back on the show, so his boyfriend needed to be perfect for him.  And you know who was perfect (at first) – Blaine.  More on that in a second…

However, Blaine brought his own bit of baggage – namely fans of Darren Criss (and/or Starkid fans).  Unlike Chord Overstreet or Max Adler, people knew who Darren was before he was on Glee.  So his own fandom joined in on the Klaine of it all.  At first it was all fine – as the shipping wars continued, it was less about Kurt vs Blaine and more about Klaine vs the other shippers.  Well, that was going to change….

Original Song happened and Kurt and Blaine got together ending the question of who would ultimately be Kurt’s boyfriend.  And things were nice and cozy headed into season 3.  You’d think the Kurt/Sam and Kurt/Karofsky ships would die out, but not really, they stuck around for a long time, and kinda morphed into something else.

See, The First Time happened.  And for the first time Blaine wasn’t the perfect prince that he was in season 2 – he had more of a developed personality, and more flaws.  And… some people didn’t like it.  (Also added to the mix was Sebastian – and the Seblaine and Kurtbastian ships were born, but those kinda go off on their own thing and I’m not really going to bring them up much here.)  Anyway, what really got fandom split was Dance With Somebody.

You had two sides of an argument, people who saw Kurt’s POV and people who saw Blaine’s POV – and guess what happened.  The two sides began to fight with each other over who was “right” in the argument.  (My god…) And thus started what fandom started referring to as The Better Boyfriend Olympics.

See - for reasons I don’t fully understand - instead of seeing that each of the boys have a fault and each were wrong in the episode, each side wanted to say that their side, and their POV was the correct way – that one boyfriend was more oppressed and the other was not as good a partner.

On the Kurt side, though, you had a lot of the old Kurt fans and ships who didn’t like Blaine (and/or didn’t want Blaine as his partner) so they vehemently decided that unless Blaine was the perfect boyfriend again, he didn’t deserve to be with Kurt.  Meanwhile, you had the Blaine fans, many of them Darren fans who wanted Blaine to have more depth to him than just being Kurt’s boyfriend, and not being Kurt fans first (or originally) they were going to push back at the Kurt fans who were lashing out at Blaine.

Compounding this was the fact that during season 3, there were so many cast members and characters that unless you were Finchel, you were begging for scraps and your featured episode to come along.  Meanwhile - Kurt got a ton of screen time, but didn’t sing much, while Blaine sang a lot more, but didn’t get much story.  The Kurt fans resented that Blaine was always singing.  The Blaine fans were annoyed that the Kurt fans resented it, and tried to remind the Kurt fans that Blaine barely got any development.

Either way, a war had begun.  And then The Break Up happened.

Now Kurt fans had a specific reason to point at – Blaine being a terrible boyfriend.  He cheated.  He’s terrible.  The end.

The fandom was not firmly split into sides - you were either a Kurt fan - a lot of them who HATED Blaine - partly because he was getting more attention at the time, partly cause he did sing more, partly because they were made up of Kurt ships that didn’t work out, and partly cause they saw so much of themselves in Kurt that they projected onto him their own feelings, and loving Blaine was not a part of that projection.  Or you were a Blaine fan - who spent a lot of time defending Blaine to the point of exhaustion, and became so resentful of Kurt that they wished Blaine could be with anyone else because Kurt (fans) didn’t understand Blaine and should just stop trying.

Weren’t there any Klainers you ask? Ha, well…. Klainers, people actually liked Kurt AND Blaine were stereotyped into two categories.  Category A) the really really loud fanbase (usually on Twitter) that harassed the creators, RM, Chris, Darren, various crew about Klaine every second that they got – to the point that it started to feel embarrassing (that’s probably my own projection).   Category B) People who thought (think) that Chris and Darren were (are) in a secret relationship.  (Spoiler alert they aren’t, never have been, and never will be.)  The two of these categories overlapped A LOT, and many of the fans of one boy or the other just disassociated completely.

You could still be a fan of the Klaine relationship, but you had a preference to which boy you were actually a fan of – you couldn’t like both, or else you were a Klainer, and that was not cool.  (I spent a long time NOT identifying as anything, and trying to make sure everything I did and said was equal – a) cause I was new to fandom and b) cause I hated that either one or the other of these characters were villainized so frequently.)

Anyway - Season 4 continued.  Adam showed up, and Kurt fans got all excited, but the problem was that a lot of them saw him as the perfect boyfriend again – not a real character but a prop that could make Kurt look good and be everything for Kurt.  Look, I liked Adam, I did, but he was underdeveloped, and this weird idea that your boyfriend needs to be perfect in order to be a functioning relationship is just unrealistic.  I digress.  Meanwhile, we didn’t get a lot of Kurt POV, which didn’t help things, and meant even more projection over his character.

Meanwhile, the Blaine fans had formed their own community, which became viciously defensive of him.  I think the whole fandom was toxic during this time for a lot of reasons, and I really wanted to quit it.  Many people did – the show wasn’t being fun anymore.

Season 5 came along, the boys got back together, tempers simmered, but the whole idea of the Better Boyfriend Olympics came back every time a conflict happened.  Arguments about who was the better boyfriend ensued, gatekeeping as to why their pick was best and why your opinion sucked still ran through the fandom.  Not helping was the fact that Cory had died, and the creators, actors, and crew – as well as media – was tired of Glee.

The one nice thing, though was that a lot of the old crowd had moved on by then, and there was an influx of newer people coming in during season 5 (and season 6) – they weren’t here for the season 3 droughts and season 4 wars, and brought in a newer and fresher perspective.

But still - we had the end of season 5 and the summer of spoilers and season 6 to get through.  At this point, the Kurt and Blaine camps had moved to their parts of the internet and really not speaking much to each other if they could help it.  When an argument happened on the show, the same kind of Better Boyfriend Olympics came up again – one boyfriend was worse than the other, and unless they changed xyz they were not good enough for the other.  But at this point, it was incredibly tiring.  I know that I was just ready for the show to be done with.

I should say, as an aside, not helping things were the rise of some rather vocal BNF-ish fans, who dug their heels in about their own opinions.  The refusal to even acknowledge that one side or the other might be right, or have valid points was not helping anything.  A lot of people on both sides refused to even listen to the points on the other side – and instead of being frustrated at the show, the creators, or whatever, they took it against each other, which wasn’t fun to watch either.

Season 6 happened - Blainofsky happened, and that killed enthusiasm for the season on both sides, most people just kind of wanted it to be over.  And then the ending came quickly, and I think a lot of people who were just plain unhappy about everything left for good.

The Better Boyfriend Olympics, or this weird competition that always pitted the boys and their fandoms against each other in the name of one being better than the other, leveled off after this.  I won’t give myself /that/ much credit - but one reason I created @todaydreambelievers was to give fans of both Kurt and Blaine a safe place where we could enjoy and discuss both boys without the BBO rearing its head.  And you know what – it did mend a few hearts.

For the most part, it’s been pretty quiet since.  Fandom is quieter, but I think the people who have come into it after the show has ended are a lot less judgmental and argumentative.  (I suppose it helps if you know how the story is going to end.)  And the cool thing, for me, is finding a group of people who enjoy Kurt and Blaine equally (or respectfully) – and reclaiming the name Klainer as a good thing.

I’ll end by saying this – it’s been relatively peaceful, even with the influx of new people throughout the years, but I have been seeing shades of BBO pop up again.  Look, you don’t have to like Klaine to be a fan of one or the other of them.  But there are a lot of terrible things going on in the world, a lot of things to be angry and get indignant about.  How a fictional couple was written ten years ago is not one of them.  Be respectful of people, and know that maybe the side you understand better isn’t the only side worth listening to.  ;)

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So, I suppose that's part 1 of this full picture. Onto Part 2.

Here's the thing -- I've stayed, mostly, in my little tumblr buble over the past five years -- blissfully unaware that I suppose things were going on around me. Except... they really weren't. Until the pandemic happened, and Glee went to Netflix internationally, and a whole bunch of young kids grew up and started watching the show.

By the time I ended TDB in 2019, there weren't many of us left. I knew there was our small, dedicated group of fans. The tinhatters (the group who thought Chris and Darren were in some kind of relationship. spoiler alert -- they're not). And I know the Kurtbastian fans have been kicking around for a while. But no one was around in huge numbers.

And then boom - pandemic, and I'm shocked (not in a bad way) that this show has already seen a resurgence. The weirdest part, for me, is the fact that not only is history repeating itself -- seriously, people are bringing up old conflicts that have been dead for ages, and old shipping wars I never thought I'd see again -- but I think this new group's relationship with the show is much different.

I think that Kurt is a character whom a lot of people can still identify with. And because he's on his own in the first season, it's still easy to project yourself onto him. And then shipping goes from there. Blaine went from being the exciting option, omg are they really gonna do Klaine?? to -- hey Klaine is the boring canon choice, we can choose who we want for Kurt.

Layer over that years of Blaine hate still circling the interwebs. The echo chamber that Twitter and Tiktok create. And the fact that neither Chris or Darren seem to have the army of fans they once did (well -- Darren does, but they don't really watch Glee anymore). And you get this varied landscape of shipping.

No, some days it doesn't feel that different from the BBO days. The fact that I still get asks about Blaine and TFT car scene or Tested makes me feel like I'm back in 2013. Other times I'm perplexed by resurgences -- such as Kurtbasitan and Kurt/Sam. (Please don't bring back Kurtofsky guys)

But there's a saying -- Same Shit, Different Day.

I think there is an entirely different group of people than the original people watching, and their reasoning for shipping whatever is much different. But they've certainly come to a lot of the same conclusions that brought about the shipping wars in the early days.

At the end of the day - I think Kurt will always been a fandom mattress. But ship what you like and be nice to everyone else. There's enough hate in the world -- no need to dump on people's escapism.

[fudgetunblr]

Yes, I did buy Starkid Homecoming, here’s some thoughts:

- Rachael Soglin decided that she was the main character. An absolute icon.

- I don’t know what Brian Holden ate that day, but his energy is unmatched. Him and Denise said ✨ energy ✨ and I love that for both of them.

- thanks for the vocals Jaime 🤧✋🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 killing it as always

- Robert’s little dance 🙌🏼

- Them censoring themselves tho

- the holding up of the sky 🙌🏼🙌🏼

- the Ani medley slapped ,, and the synchronisation of that group was amazing ,,

- Joe Walker in the Me & My Dick medley went 🤪

- AJ 🙌🏼 enough said

- I thought about how long it took them to set the light. Like they put the concert together so quick, and light takes TIME !! (The boring life of a theatre student, thinking about lighting design)

- “my hormones are freaking out” *everyone goes feral*

- I do think it makes sense that they did a lot of Potter stuff because they got their start there

- ✨ break to stress about spending my money on things ✨

- Darren’s little riff made it worth it I suppose

- THE GLASSESSSSSS

- THE HEADBAND !!!

- Bonnie 🥺🥺🥺 it’s cool that she came back

- people screaming “PIGFARTS”

- Dylan is the moment.

- I am once again gonna comment on Brian Holden’s energy. Spare some please

- ✨ break to think about why tf they censoring themselves ,, who you censoring for ??? ✨

- QuiRRRRRRl

- Bonnie: hi 🥺

Meredith: hi 🥺

- I only care about Granger Danger

- ✨ microphone sharing ✨

- someone said “Joey needs to be alone on stage for at least one song so he can do whatever the fuck” and sidekick really is one of the best songs from AVPSY ,, so yeah,

- thank you for Guys like Potter 🙏🏼 Tyler owned AVPS, and Joe Moses as Snape is probably my favourite interpretation of the character. When he did the Snape voice I 💀💀 because like ,, ✨ talent ✨

- I haven’t said this yet, but Lauren Lopez, Jeff Blim and Corey Dorris are amazing ,, and they all killed it !!

- so did Britney Coleman, our Broadway queen

- the mics really go 📈📈📉📉📈📈

- the orchestra btw !!! KILLING IT !!! Thanks for the ear candy 🔥🔥

- every single person killed it btw, if I haven’t mentioned someone specifically ,, I still just ,, everyone fucking KILLED IT. Considering how quickly the show got put together.

- Clark 🥰

- “didn’t you hear? the show is over!”

- plot twist “I came home” ending 🥺

- jacket off = ded ft hand biting

No this was fun, I had fun. I’m gonna go listen to the Ani Medley on repeat now. :)

[quirrelmorts]

Very long list of perfect Homecoming things:

- The lighting

- Darren looking like Hidgens

- 40 singers!

- (Damn that G.L.E.E.)

- Whole show is because of the fans!

- The orchestra!!!

- Clark and AJ directing and playing piano

- Jeff wearing eyeshadow and Denise’s necklace

- Mariah’s voice

- Lauren’s whole outfit

- Jeff’s energy

- Jeff looking into the camera during Join Us And Die

- Jeff’s hair (I love Jeff)

- All of Show Stoppin Number

- Jon and Mariah being workin boys (Mariah’s excited “yeah!”)

- Lauren Walker

- Meredith’s leather jacket and Brian’s floral shirt

- Tiffany holding up the sky

- Denise’s whole outfit

- Rachael’s energy

- Brian being weird

- Joe saying his lines so seriously

- Cave wives 🥺

- Firebringer just has such good music

- Meredith’s peace signs during all her exits

- Jeff being so proud of Trail to Oregon

- The audience participation in “good morning”

- Corey Dorris

- Jeff’s energy again but more chaotic

- The incredible speed of each “faster”

- Joe’s Boba Fett hoodie

- Clark going from directing to singing

- Nick’s shirt (I messaged him about it)

- Mark’s voice!

- Ongoing acknowledgment of Clark’s attractiveness

- Joe Walker is the best person ever

- Jim!!!!!

- This whole list could be just Joe things

- Britney and Carlos are actually the best Starkid singers and they radiate joy

- Dylan Saunders

- Julia Albain appreciation!

- More Nick plus cool mic effects

- Everyone’s voices in Rogues Are We

- Nico’s hair!

- More Joe obviously

- Dylan and Jaime pointing to the camera during “I wanna be your friend forever”

- Occasionally you can see other Starkids watching from the side of the stage

- Denise being the sweetest

- “3 hour space opera with only 8 songs”

- MARIAH AND ALEX I HAVE CHILLS

- Alex’s vocal improvement

- The og mosquito brothers!

- Brant!

- Me And My-

- Joey examining the mics

- Joe’s excitement causing him to sprain his ankle the first show

- AJ jumping in

- Listen to Your Heart is actually my favourite Starkid song I think

- Alle-Faye and Ali!

- SANGO AND ELONA

- Nick’s awkwardness

- Just the first notes of Back to Hogwarts bring tears

- Yes Darren is very famous. Yes he is under-appreciated.

- The headband!

- FLOO POWDER POWER

- The amount of love everyone has for Draco

- Dylan’s entrance through the audience

- HUFFLEPUFFS ARE PARTICULARLY GOOD FINDERS

- Joe is a Ravenclaw king and Jim is a Slytherin goddess

- All of Harry Freakin Potter

- To Have A Home felt so intimate

- Darren is a performer

- Also he’s improved so much over the years

- QUIRRELMORT

- Have I mentioned the orchestra

- This just sounds extra romantic

- Intricate rituals...

- They skip off together

- BONNIE SINGING

- AND MEREDITH

- THE BEAUTIFUL DUET WE NEVER THOUGHT WE’D GET

- The og guitar

- Clark and AJ chilling in the background

- THAT’S IN CANADA

- Darren and the audience being incredibly pure

- Darren playing guitar for Granger Danger is always a great addition

- Joey and Lauren have also improved so much it’s unbelievable

- THE LEVEL OF DRAMA

- The clapping for the tap dancing, I relate to knowing it that well

- Joe Did That™ with an injured foot

- More Quirrelmort

- “I’m gonna kill you” FJVKHCJFZHFS

- THE SINGING IS THE ACTUAL BEST

- The entire mouse prince monologue, exactly what we needed

- AJ IS FABULOUS

- That little bit that sounded like an epic villain song

- THAT PROJECTION

- And he goes right back to directing

- How did they get away with Guys Like Potter at a pg concert

- It’s stunning though, Tyler is so under appreciated

- Blond lawyer Snape

- Amazing how this song breaks my heart

- Joey’s emotion

- The violin

- The high note of course

- I’M CRYING IMMEDIATELY EVERYTHING ENDS IS THE SADDEST STARKID SONG I LOVE THE MARAUDERS

- Brian and Brian waving to each other

- THE HOPE

- I feel so loved

- “I’m smiling”

- I have chills again

- To think Voldemort Is Going Down was originally added to AVPM last minute

- Sick piano riff

- Days of Summer I’m crying again

- Oh this hits hard during social isolation

- Dylan bowing down to the orchestra, everyone just vibing

- This is so comforting

- Tiffany crying during Darren’s speech, Starkid means so much

- Denise and Brian holding hands, I have no choice but to stan their friendship

- Joey making Joe laugh, Joey’s face in the background, meanwhile Sango is an angel

- The classic Starkid style encore with the bonus iconic Quirrelmort moment

- Deadliest Man energy

- Okay is wonderful

- Darren always just having the most fun

- Quick reminder that I love Jeff

Thank you Starkid for the fantastic music and community

[meredithstanien]

me and my thoughts ab homecoming

feel free to ignore i'm just rambling about how much i love everyone in starkid (please dont reblog this haha)

- jaAIME thank you maam for your service

- is jeff blim wearing eyeliner? thank you king

- sometimes i understand why all of you are simping for white boy manion and show stopping number is one of them. hips!

- personally i will simp for mariah though i hope you dont mind

- LAUREN WALKER I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU THAT SHIRT

- IM SO HYPED FOR FIREBRINGER I'M GONNA LOSE IT

- i want bhol's shirt. honestly i would wear his whole outfit

- brb simping for meredith.... leather jacket.....

- also lauren that fit is beautiful

- rachael soglin i love you also she has such a wonderful voice

- TOGETHER!!!!! i love everyone looking at meredith and lauren Like That

- "we are womankind" *meredith thumbs up and :)

- lowkey wish we had more lauren walker during this

- okay. tto songs slap so hard and i'm also bopping

- wISSSCONSSIIIIIINNNN i love corey

- wait how have i not said anything about jeff's outfit yet??? i love the vest so much

- okay they kept the audience participation for tto in this and i love it so much

- MS LOPEZ THE BOOTS???

- SPEEDRUN thank you for letting rachael bless us, i thought they were just gonna do tto and naked in a lake and i was gonna be so sad

-i'm crying over jeff's bowlegged step in place

- i love this four person crew for ani, i was wondering what they were gonna do for this since it was a traditional musical

- why dont people simp for clark? look at this man he's so fine

- HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT CHRIS ALLEN ALSO PLAYED DUDER IN LITTLE WHITE LIE? i never made that made that connection because i only watched lwl once

- jim povolo makes an appearance i love xem

- the cheers during no one remembers achmed... me too.

- denise and meredith sharing a mic and having the time of their lives doing it brings me joy

- lowkey was stoked for a meredith-dylan duet for 1001 nights but britney and carlos gave us so much more than we deserved

- okay as a meredith stan i am very sad about the lack of a meredith solo in the twisted medley i will not lie to you guys

- the hmb lighting.... thank you to the lightning designer i will have to check the credits.... AND THE SOUND DESIGNER the echoes are so cool

- gotta say i am so happy about the variety of funky outfits onstage today

- ROGUES jaime kills that one part. yall know the part

- literally any part with denise singing makes me so happy i cant wait for starship

- the audience clapping made me so nervous at the end of super friends bc for a second it sounded like it was throwing off the orchestra and making them speed up without realizing

- craving some commissioner gordon right about now

- STARSHIP I'M GONNA PEE

- ms donovan knows what she's talking about, thank you denise's mom we are dreamers

- i love that theyre giving solos to people who didn't get them in other medleys because i needed this. starkid women are so talented

- i feel so bad for not knowing everyone's names. theyre so amazing and i cant even name them

- JUNIOR STARSHIP i simp for bhol specifically as junior

- BRANT COX THE BUG MAN I LOVE YOU i love starship and i love him, i wish he had been in more shows

- joey your cue!!!!

- where is the way i do? i pass away

- "please enjoy some songs from 'me and my- ...." goodbye brian

- mamd is highkey problematic but that doesnt stop ready to go from being a bop

- brian and meredith standing together 🥺

- i love brian and nick lang awkwardly asking if everyone is having fun

- nick is so wonderful i love him

- the strings sound SO cool with comin back to hogwarts i love cellos

- the screams over the glasses, i love this audience

- i love the audience singing along and saying the lines along with the music, i bet the energy in that theatre was fucking amazing

- joey and darren just going "whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa" over bonnie!

- ms. lopez... the BOOTS again. lauren lopez as draco malfoy does things to me

- DYLAN COMING FROM THE AUDIENCE that is my favorite gag

- the people in the audience as dylan is coming through look so excited

- HUFFLEPUFFS ARE PARTICULARLY GOOD FINDERS!!!!!!

- meredith dances like a cartoon character it's so cute i love her

- tbh the whole second act has me smiling constantly i dont have much to say bc it just makes me so happy

- IMAGINE BEING THAT SAX PLAYER thank you king

- not even gonna lie ive never been a huge fan of avps or avpsy but the energy here makes up for it

- darren where is your fit you are harry freakin potter all the other men here are showing you up, you are wearing a black t shirt

-[yeah at thsi point a bunch of my thoughts ab the second act got deleted bc tumblr sucks and didnt save this draft but whatever i loved it]

- i'm gonna cry, the way the orchestra the end of days of summer became a slow version of back to hogwarts

- this is so sad. this is so happy but so sad.

- darren this is the sweetest thing

- "enthusiastic, but sometimes questionable fan art" i'd like to formally apologize to starkid for whatever they may have seen.

- joey in the background making faces as darren talks about loving your friends

- yo i didnt expect to get so emo over this but them finishing out with back to hogwarts really did me in, plus everyone onstage wiping away tears

- ITS AN ENCORE THANK YOU BROSENTHAL AND SANGO

- what a stupidly wonderful way to finish this show

- joey carrying out walker and brosenthals jackets

- oh the classic disconnected and off timing theatre kid bow to end the show

- IM LOOKING AT THE CREDITS AND OFC THEY HAD COREY LUBOWICH, SARAH PETTY, JUNE SAITO, AND MARK SWIDERSKI DOING TECH WHO ELSE WOULD THEY POSSIBLY ASK TO DO IT?

[jackie-talks-about-starkid]

Me and My Dick (Rewatch #2, 9/15/2020)

YouTube publish date: November 12, 2000

Number of views on date of rewatch: 2,129,928

Original Performance Run: October 29-31st, 2009

Ticket price: ?

Director: Matt Lang

Music and Lyrics: Darren Criss, AJ Holmes, and Carlos Valdes

Book: Brian Holden, Eric Kahn Gale, Matt Lang, and Nick Lang

Cast album price and availability: $9.99, iTunes

Album release date: January 6, 2010

Parody or original: an original (I suspect that the plot may have been influenced by King Missile’s “Detachable Penis” but that’s just a hunch)

Main cast and characters

Joey Richter - Joey Richter

Dick - Joe Walker

Sally - Jamie Lyn Beatty

Miss Cooter - Devin Lytle

Vanessa - Ali Gordon

Tiffany - Alle-Faye Monka

The Old Snatch - Nicholas Joseph Strauss-Matathia

Flopsy - Brian Holden

Joey’s Heart - AJ Holmes

Musical numbers

Act I

“Me and My Dick” by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: Joey and Dick

“Ready To Go” by Darren Criss

     Characters: Company

“I’ve Seen You Around Here Before” by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: Dick and Miss Cooter

“Nothin’ Like A Dick” by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: Old Snatch and Miss Cooter

“Listen To Your Heart” by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: Joey’s Heart and Joey

Act II

“Land of the Dicks” by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: Weenie, Big T, and the Lost Dicks

“Even Though” by Darren Criss

     Characters: Joey and Sally

“Gotta Find His Dick” by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: Joey’s Heart and Company

“The Council of the Pussies" by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: The Old Snatch, High Council Pussy, and The Council of the    Pussies

“Flight of the Pussies” by AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

"Big T's Temptation" by  AJ Holmes and Carlos Valdes

     Characters: Big T and the Lost Dicks

"Finale" by Darren Criss

     Characters: Company

Notable Notes:

The cast album became the first ever student musical album to chart on Billboard’s Top Cast Albums the week it was released (x)

The album debuted at #11. It was a place above the original cast album for Rock of Ages.

Cultural Context: 2009

Me and My Dick was performed the same year that StarKid did A Very Potter Musical

Barack Obama gets sworn in as president of the US

Glee airs its first episode (Darren auditions for Finn and doesn’t get the part)

Michael Jackson dies on June 25th

Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift’s “Video of the Year” speech at the Video Music Awards

Avatar (the one with the blue people, not Avatar: The Last Airbender) becomes the highest grossing movie of all time

The “Miracle on the Hudson” happened on January 15th

Personal Thoughts:

When one first hears of a comedic musical about pubescent high schoolers and their singing penises and vaginas, one does not think, “Wow, what a sophisticated concept that dissects the relationship between gender roles and sexual identity in modern day society,” but that’s what StarKid Productions’ Me and My Dick is truly about. At first, having the main character’s genitalia being completely separate but complementary entities to the teenagers at the center of the storyline seems jarring and like it was only done for comedic purposes, but the longer and more complicated the plot gets, the more obvious it seems to be. The main character, Joey Richter and his relationship with his Dick is a very compelling one. Throughout the musical, Joey struggles with coming to terms with his sexuality as a teenage boy. At the beginning, Joey himself reflects the average stereotype of the sex-obsessed male teenager whose primary interest is getting laid rather than achieving emotional fulfillment. Later, when his Dick becomes interested in his neighbor Sally’s Miss Cooter, Joey and his Dick have a fight about what that attraction means for their relationship and eventually separate, before eventually coming back together once Joey develops a relationship with his Heart. Joey himself is his own entity, with his own thoughts, feelings, and goals, and his struggles with his Dick and his Heart represent very real internal struggles that many teenagers, and especially teenage boys, have with themselves, their sexuality, and their personal emotions. 

Joey’s Dick, as well as the other character’s sexual organs, represent the subconscious sexual identities of each character. For Joey, his sexual identity cannot be fully realized or appreciated by himself because he has not fully matured as a sexual being. Unlike Sally, Joey does not realize that in order to achieve sexual fulfillment, he needs to not only be physically attracted to someone, but also experience an emotional connection with someone, which is something that Dick AKA his sexual subconscious realizes before Joey and even his Heart do. This journey is the perfect example of the dangers of a sex-oriented society, and how that kind of society damages the well-being of maturing men and women. In Western society, the ideal sexually mature man is defined by his sexual prowess and dominance. If he can have sex with a bunch of hot women and not worry about how emotionally in-tune he is with himself and his personal relationships, then he is the ideal man. Society teaches men (and women) from a very young age that a man’s defining trait is his sexual attitude towards others. 

The ideal sexually mature woman, on the other hand, is represented by the character Tiffany, who is arguably the most sympathetic character in the musical. Through the perspective of her vagina, lovingly referred to as The Old Snatch (aptly named as Tiffany’s sexuality represents the general mistreatment of women’s sexual selves in society), we see that Tiffany is the unfortunate byproduct of such a male dominant sexually oriented culture. The only time Tiffany has ever experienced true sexual fulfillment was during her first time having sex with an unnamed male character she was in love with. However, it was later revealed that this character used Tiffany only for his own sexual enjoyment and did not truly love her, intensely hurting Tiffany’s feelings and resulting in her being used to getting treated as a sexual object whose existence is only beneficial for men’s pleasure rather than her own emotional and sexual fulfillment. 

Another, more subtle, detail that emphasizes this theme is Sally’s opening section in “Ready to Go.” While singing, Sally already knows that she has a crush on Joey, but her low self-esteem and worries about her own attractiveness lead her to become sexually repressed, to the point where her vagina, Miss Cooter, has to ‘fall in love’ with Joey’s Dick in order to Sally to realize that she not only experiences, but truly desires having sex with Joey. 

What I love about the representation of the character’s and their respective sexual organs is that they are tethered to one another through some kind of leash-type object that allows for the penis or vagina character to be connected to their person but freely move around and act as their own character without them. While this is beneficial for the actors and entertaining for the audience to see these beings take on a life of their own, it also compliments the theme of sexual identity and maturity very well. By choosing to have penises and vaginas tethered to, but not completely physically attached to their teenage counterparts, it communicates to the audience that the sexual identity the genitalia represents in of course a very important factor of the person’s life and individuality, but ultimately not the be-all, end-all of who a person truly is. While Dick, Miss Cooter, Old Snatch, and other characters go through their own journey, the most important development is the ones that their human attachments experience. The sexuality of the character is an integral part of who the character is and how they navigate their life, but in the end, the most important thing is that the human characters go through their own development in which their sexuality compliments, but never dick-tates (sorry, I had to). 

The ultimate take away from Me and My Dick is that in order to be a fully realized individual, one has to recognize and accept all parts of themselves, instead of just focusing on their physical sexual selves and ignoring their personal feelings, or overemphasizing their emotional feelings while ignoring their physical, sexual needs. 

“[Dick] is a part of you like I am, Joey. You need him and Sally needs him” - Joey’s Heart <3

“We gotta start thinking of love and sex as a team effort. We can’t just pine over a girl we can’t get or be in a constant pursuit of sex. We need to listen to each other because that’s the only way it can work out” -Joey Richter

[schaefferisqueen]

AVPS Song Ranking

 OK HERE IT IS AYAYAYAYAYA so I realized as I was doing this (cuz Ive already done AVPM its a MIRICALe) all of the potter shows have 14 songs and I think that's rlly cool of Darren/Clark/AJ/Pierce/Nick/Matt. once again ppl gonna hate on me for this so rip oh well DEAL W/ IT anyways love u all have fun reading!!! also I got the list of songs from wiki article (same w/ avpsy and avpm) cuz there is no complete album so I apologize, if it is off lmk

14. Let the Games Begin (so I know imma get hate for this but,,,, I dont like it oops. the choreo is great of course it is James freaking Tolbert did it, but I just,,, dont vibe with the song oops)

13. Hermione Can’t Draw Reprise (ok so this is low cuz it a reprise and,,,,, I needed low shit oops anyways I love og this one just short lol)

12. Going Back to Hogwarts Reprise (so this is the same deal as the previous one. it is a great finale and I love it just,,,, not my fave especially since it so short. But it is v emotional finale and it was nice to see everyone on stage together I loved it)

11. Gettin’ Along (ok I have issues w/ umbrage but im not gonna go into them. however this great song and Joe and Dylan sound great! it is v catchy and and fun to listen to and I like it for the most part. it would prob be higher but again,,,, I have issue w/ umbridge and shit so ya)

10. No Way (aaaaaa this is where it got kinda hard to rank for the most part no way is a great song and I like it but it still not my fave I actually v happy it made it to to 10 so ya. it catchy and great cuz friendship w/ the trio and Malfoy and all four of them are amazingggggg joey bonnie Darren and Lauren slaaaayyyyy we stan)

9. The Coolest Girl (ok yes this is abnormally low im sryyyyyyyy I just rlly like a lot of songs better than this and I also rlly like the homecoming version w/ Meredith and bonnie more so oops. I tend to compare them in my mind a lot so oh well. but ya great song v uplifting bonnie is great we stan a queen I sad she no to starkid anymore but,,,,, I get why she stopped so ya)

8. Guys Like Potter (aaaaaaaaaaaaaa Tyler and joeeeeeee omfg this is amazing song they kill it and I actually like og version better than apocalyptour version cuz the tempo and tone is more tru to the lyrics. it such a sad song and Lucius is a bitch but aaa it so goooooood and the flash back scenes w/ brosenthal and Arielle are so amazing I love ethemmmmmm Tyler and Joe m voice sound so good together and the harmonies are everythinggggg)

7. Stutter (ok so I know I said I have problems w/ umbridge and I do but this song is way to much of a bop for me to ignore it the dancing and the lights and everything make this song amazing and being backed up by the dementors *chefs kiss* this is greattttttttt also context is hilarious like umbridge got pissed at Dumbledore and I cant it is great we love)

6. Those Voices (ok this song is underrated FIGHT ME this song is fucking amazing the harmonies and the feels and the mirror aaaaaaaaaaaaaa Darren and nick sound so good and it so emotional and I love this fucking song idk why others dont like this song slaps like go off Darren and nick I stan so harddddddddd)

5. To Have a Home (aaaaa DARRENNNNNN he popped off in this show like I cant emphasize that enough this song slaps and it so heartfelt and amazing omfg Darren’s voiiiicceeeeee aaaaaa it so emotional and the last note w/ GRYFFINDOR over it is so good and it aaaaaaa I cant this song is amazing and it so good especially in homecoming aa I love itttttt)

4. Hermione Can’t Draw (omfg this song is amazingggg so fucking funny and fun fact Darren said in one of the 10niversary livestreams that the chords are complete nonsense and dont even match what they saying and I love htattttt also when brolden comes in w/ Joe m and interrupts and then they change the songaaaaa it so fucking funny and then him getting offended is hilarious I love also Snape/ron bromanceeeeeeeee I fucking love them it amazing this song is great and im so happy it counts as actual song!!!)

3. Days of Summer (amazing almost finale! days of summer is great and it def captures the feel of starkid and how much we love themmmmm also the dance break and Britneys lines are amazing go OFF James w/ that choreo it slaps this song is so good and amazing and catchy and we loveeeeee)

2. Not Over Yet (omfg YES go OFFFFF TYLER holy shit amazing villain song the first song in rogues medley and omgggggg I love it it so catchy and Corey is hilarious and yessssss everyone coming on as death eaters is so Good and IT THE BIRTH OF THE VILLAIN STROKING or whatever the fuck It is they do lol this song is so iconic and brolden is great in apocalyptour but this version is superior IM SORRY but not really lol)

1. Harry Freakin’ Potter (hOLY SHITTTT I love this fucking song so muchhhhhhh it is so iconic and joey and jaime slayyyyyyyy this song is so iconic and I love every rendition of it and I get so fucking excited when it comes on!!!!! the choreo is amazing as always and the background harmonies slap and its also genuinely hilarious even when harry is being all depressing and shit. I cannot say enough how much I love this fucking song it so goooooood anyways ya thx for coming to my ted talk lmaoooo)

aaaaa I finally did it!!!! thanks so much if you read all the way through! I had fun writing this even tho it took me a while (sorry that it is short in the beginning,,,, I wasn't that motivated till I got further down the list) HTANK YOUUUUUU MAMD and AVPM are already ranked, they just need descriptions!! thank you and hopefully MAMD comes out soon!

<3, alimay

[d-criss-news]

1883magazine.com

Darren Criss

On his new EP ‘Masquerade,’ the multi-talented Darren Criss welcomes everyone to the party.

Throughout his career, Darren Criss has never been one to shy away from boundaries. As an actor, he has won numerous awards and critical acclaim for his portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s award-winning drama American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, as well as hearts and a cult-like following for his portrayal of Harry Potter in Team Starkid’s A Very Potter Musical. As a musician, his talent shows the same range; he is as well known for his ability to belt a broadway ballad as he is for his covers of Top 40 hits on Glee.

For Criss, this is because all music is simply music. Musicians and listeners alike need not box themselves into certain genres and while this concept is currently growing in mainstream media, it is one Criss has known since he was a teenager. At Warped Tour, he encountered fellow San Franciscans Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, a punk-rock cover band that specializes in the unexpected (their most played track on Spotify is Country Roads.). Inspired by what he’s always known was possible, Darren’s career has had freedom most artists take years to explore — and with his new EP, it’s clear that is the most recent chapter.

‘Masquerade’ is an exploration into Criss’ more eclectic side with each track on the record representing a different persona or masque for the artist. The overt character-driven quality of the EP lends not only to allowing fans to learn more about Darren Criss, but also to create a project where something can be found for everyone.

1883 Magazine spoke to Darren Criss about his perception of genre, his new EP, and the curse of creative people.

Congratulations on ‘Masquerade’. I love it. It’s so fun!

Fun is a very fair adjective, I would agree.

I feel like there’s a very cohesive vision or aesthetic to it. When you set out to make the project, did you have this end goal in min  or were you just making music?

Yes and no. First and foremost, when you’re dealing with the whole of what an artist does, there are so many different facets that make the whole piece. To start, I’m just a songwriter — that’s the main thing that seeds everything else. But, because I’m a creative person, I’d like to think that I have a somewhat cohesive vision for my projects. However, you can conjecture and pontificate over what you want to happen, but ultimately a project is going to come out how it does. The thing that ties it all together, hopefully, is the artistry of the music or the person’s voice. When I heard you say “cohesive” my mind was like, “Phew!” Because we’re all scatterbrained people and we just constantly pray other people somehow think that we planned something or we had it envisioned all along, so to hear that is an enormous relief.

That being said, I had hope for how the EP would come together. I’ve been leaning into this notion of a character-driven song. The dirty secret about that is all songs are character-driven; all art is character-driven in some way or another. I just use that wording to aide folks that might be perceiving me as an actor and to apply that methodology to music.

How so?

I always thought it was a bit of an unfair double standard — where actors can be in a horror movie or romantic comedy — and we’re still behind that person as an actor. Actors can put on a prosthetic nose or a wig and do different things to service whatever story they’re doing. Historically music has been a little trickier, but now I think that’s changing. I’ve always been a self-proclaimed genrephile. I love so many different kinds of things. Growing up it was difficult for me to really assert this without confusing people. Now, that kaleidoscope has shifted in my favour, because people are more into eclecticism and musical diversity due to playlist culture and the whole homogeneity of everything. I’m employing this notion of being an actor and being behind a character and applying it to music by treating each song as its own kind of character. I want the art to correspond with that.

That’s an interesting concept to apply to music.

I know that everything I just said is horrifically more cerebral than it needs to be. If you like the music and it’s fun, great. I’m just trying to help people out that might be confused by perhaps some of the cognitive dissonance that’s happening between some of the styles. At the end of the day, it’s an artist’s voice, literal singing voice, and heart voice — what they have to say and how they say it — that tie everything together. People are more accepting of that than they used to be. This is exciting for me because I finally got to lean into something that I’ve always leaned into my entire life.

The last EP you released was ‘Homework’ in 2017. How do you think you’ve grown as an artist since then?

For me, obviously, there’s personal growth and professional growth. I think my growth is much more technical — getting better at recording music or being able to translate abstract ideas into physical recording — the things that I don’t think necessarily would be seen on the records. Again, much like an actor, ‘Homework’ was me playing the part of making a very low-key, singer/songwriter record. I’m a big believer in dressing for a party. I had some singer/songwriter songs that I wanted to honour. Each record I release shows a different version of myself that I haven’t gotten around to sharing.

The songs on ‘Masquerade’ are not like, “oh man in the past few years, I’ve suddenly become this person.” The EP was me finally getting in touch with my more Garage Band musician roots that I hadn’t been able to flex. It made sense to me to finally make this music. I had linked up with people that I thought could help me bring it to life in a way that hadn’t been done before and I felt like the timing was right. As I mentioned, it seemed like audiences might be a little more privy to this kind of thing.

I don’t want to be so stubborn as to think that there hasn’t been growth. I’ve been so lucky as an actor, that I’ve been busy as an actor. The only obstacle to me putting out more music, which I wish I was doing all the time, is time. I’m not an artist that just shows up, sings, and checks out. I’m writing, I’m producing, and I’m really in the weeds. It takes a great deal of investment, emotionally and mentally when I make music.

So, when you say, “you wish you were always releasing music,” do you mean to imply you have more music or at least ideas for more music?

I think the curse of creative people is that our ideas move faster than our bodies can execute. What this inevitably will create is a huge queue of unattended things that you will always be haunted by. From there, you have to catch as catch can. At any given moment, there’s still so much more in the queue that I want to put out. It literally took a global shutdown for me to finally have the time to look at the said queue, and say, “Okay, which project do I not only really want to do, but also do I have the resources to do and do I think fits into where I am right now?” Because I’m very cognisant of l where I am in my career. I have this huge selection of songs and when I have the time to focus on music, I go through and pick the ones I think fit where I am mentally and how I think other people are feeling.

With all these different genres of music you’ve released and all the music-centric projects that you’ve been a part of, is there a type of music that you enjoy performing the most?

I would say everything, but I don’t mean that in a way to just include everything. By nature, I’m a dot connector; I like shortening the distance between two things as much as possible and showing people how they can coexist. It’s my MO personally and professionally. Genre, while it has a lot to do with the cultural background and history of a type of music, is the boxes that we’ve arbitrarily made up to categorize and market music. I’m completely nondenominational when it comes to genre because all I can hear is chords, melody, and lyrics. It’s never been separated to me. When I’m performing live, I relish getting to lean in and bring together genres. I love using the setlist to show an audience how similar different genres are. For example, I’ll play a punk rock song and right after that I’ll sit at the piano and sing a ballad. My voice will be a little different, but it’s still my voice. Just like in acting, no matter what character an actor is portraying, it’s still their face and their body. Trying to minimize a distance between genres when I perform is an exciting prospect because I like getting audiences to rethink what they think they know about the differences between genre and how really at the end of the day it’s all just storytelling. So…I like performing it all.

I didn’t say you couldn’t say you liked everything. [Chuckles] That’s a perfectly acceptable answer.

I like putting all of it together specifically to show the similarities. Historically, all the great steps forward in a new kind of art form have been by mashing two or three seemingly unrelated things together. It’s happening constantly. It’s happening right now. Culture is a constant conversation back and forth. It’s a sharing of ideas that ebb and flow to create something new. I’m not saying that I’m taking part in this ancient conversation, but I’m certainly enjoying it. When I see pieces of it that I would like to showcase, I jump at the opportunity to do so.

Since ‘Masquerade’ has been in your creative bank for a while, what would you say inspired it?

Every song has its own inspiration. The album doesn’t really have an inspiration. If anything, I’m trying to make sure that I can show up for myself. I feel like with everything that I’ve done musically, I haven’t gotten to represent who and what I am and what I do. To me, this EP gets me closer to that goal. I still think that only a small percentage of me has been represented and that’s just because of time. I haven’t been able to focus on music in the way that I’d like, but ‘Masquerade’ is a huge stride for me.

Speaking of you being on Broadway, Elsie Fest is Sunday! On top of it just being exciting because it’s back, it’s your first public gig in almost two years. What did you miss most about the festival?

Listen, even without a global pandemic to worry about, putting on a music festival is hard enough. It’s one of my favourite times of the year because I’m very proud of what we’ve built and what we’ve continued to build and expand upon over the years. There’s been a community that has been built around not only people that come to the festival but people that have been part of it. I’ve followed these performers’ careers and I’ve been really grateful that we got a piece of their magic and got to be part of their journey at Elsie Fest. Magic which I can’t take credit for. I just lucked out with having incredible people perform. Over the years, we’ve had Cynthia Erivo perform twice. The first time she premiered a song called ‘You Will Be Found’ from a musical that would open in a year called ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’ We premiered a song from a movie called ‘The Greatest Showman.’ Keala Settle went on to win a Golden Globe for that song. Last year, we had a young girl from Disney sing for us — her name was Olivia Rodrigo. Those are just three examples. There’s been a lot of people that I’ve been thrilled to see do their thing. This year we have an incredible lineup. Barlow & Bear are coming, along with Jordan Fisher, Adrienne Warren, Pentatonix’s Kirstin Maldonado, and Alex Brightman. It’s gonna be great.

The obvious and the biggest answer is getting to perform live within as much of a safe and comfortable environment as humanly possible. Luckily we’re an outdoor festival, so that’s already to our advantage. I will be performing this new EP, but there is also a lot of music to catch up on and a lot of music I want to share. I’m mainly excited to share it with other human beings. I look at performing as a service industry. Everything that I do isn’t worth a whole lot unless other people experience it because it takes on a life of its own. The audience is not there for me & I’m there for them. I’m trying to service an experience that’s bigger than both of us and create something that couldn’t have been there if both parties were on their own.

Before I let you go, I need to tell you that Tramp Stamp Granny’s is one of my favourite bars in LA. I’m obsessed! I haven’t made it back yet. Like I said earlier, the editor Kelsey is also one of my best friends and when she comes, it’s top on my list of places to take her.

Really?! That makes me so happy. You couldn’t have said a better thing. We’re open again to limited capacity. We require vaccinations cards at the door and we’re only open Thursday-Saturday. Talk about being with people — the night we reopened, about a month ago, I got pretty emotional. It was nice to see people just being happy to sing and celebrate life with strangers. That was a really encouraging sentiment because despite the use of digital communication which I do think is an amazing thing, we, so clearly, inevitably, yearn for each other. Despite everything, people were coming to the bar and were so happy to be there and be around other people. Our need for other human beings is a constant that is extremely encouraging to me as a bleeding heart idealist. It’s nice to be a small part of that.

Finally, you said earlier Barlow and Bear were going to be at Elsie Fest. I cannot wait for the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical and was so excited to see you’re involved.

It’s cool meeting them because in a much more organized and impressive fashion they’re doing what my friends and I did ten years ago with ‘A Very Potter Musical.’ They are insanely talented and deserve to be the huge phenomenon they have become. They’re the future. I’m trying to grab onto their coattails however I can. [chuckles] They’re just getting started. I’ve been a big fan of Emily’s for a long time. She hates it when people say this, but [mock yells] she was a child prodigy and she still is. She’s an amazing human being.

Masquerade is out now.

Follow Darren Criss @darrencriss

Interview by Sydney Bolen

[readbetweenthelineslove]

Thoughts While Watching SK Homecoming

I was literally smiling and laughing like an idiot while watching these wonderful amazing people and thinking of all of the memories from years of enjoying their musicals. I am so glad I bought the digital download because they deserve all of the love and support. Just a word of warning I will be spoiling what happens throughout the show so if you haven’t seen it yet and/or you don’t want to have anything spoiled for you, I would not proceed any further. You have been warned. Also, as the show is over two hours long, buckle in cause this is gonna be a doozy and I have a lot of feeling about this wonderful show.

Disclaimer: these are just my own personal thoughts and opinions as a long time fan of Starkid, please don’t come at me.

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1. Darren is so cute with how he encourages and interacts with the crowd, you can tell how much he loves Starkid and loves the fans

2. we stan a founding knucklehead of Starkid

3. I am so proud of the musical daddies as they conduct a literal orchestra!! how far they have come!!! also, hearing all of the songs with the orchestra is such a treat.

4. I am living for Jeff Blims outfit! the eyeliner, the necklace, the vest!! honestly, iconic.

5. It is so funny to me that they had to edit out fuck from their songs, i.e. “i mean what the what”; “tiger lover”; “he porked a tiger”.

6. Did they change the octave that they were singing, because Jeff seems to be struggling?

7. I love how Jon Matteson looks the same as he did TGWDLM, he is Paul.

8. I don’t know why but the TGWDLM medley is increasing my appreciation for Jeff, previously who wasn’t really on my radar in terms of my favorite starkids, but I love his little dance moves and funny things he does

9. Robert Manion fucking performs the hell out of show stopping number and I am here for it every single time. I feel like he can’t help it and you can tell he’s into it because he can’t help but make the Hidgins face and wiggle his hips. Also, THE BODY ROLLS I AM LIVING FOR THEM !!! (@9:10)

10. Both Mariah and Jon are confirmed working boys and I love them for it. I love that Corey brought Mariah in at the end to make sure she was included.

11. Okay but Lauren Lopez knows how to perform like she knows how to work and engage a live audience. I so enjoy watching performances like this where there isn’t a wall between performer and audience because I think that that’s when she shines. I also feel like the same applies to Rob, Joey, and Darren, they are just so fun to watch.

12. How are all of these people so attractive!! I especially love Lauren’s outfit, but that’s probably just cause I love her so much.

13. I don’t know why but Brian’s “I still don't know!!” at 12:08 gets me every time.

14. Joey’s look behind him for his shadow at 12:24 while he bops kills me.

15. The orchestral swell at 13:05 with “this is the dawn” is so beautiful.

16. Lauren's arms are unbelievable, but we already knew that

17. 14:43 where Joey and Lauren walk and then turn back is so funny to me.

18. The second naked in a lake kicked in at 17:05, I got so hype. also, love that Corey took off his jacket during the song.

19. All the different faces and actions during the “fasters” at 19:54 are so good.

20. I never realized how tall and gangly Clark was until the Ani section, the boy's limbs are too long for his own good and I love it. His voice is so beautiful though!!

21. Joe calling Twisted the first-ever live-action Disney remake is iconic and no one can tell me otherwise.

22. I was legitimately afraid for the buttons on Joe’s shirt at 27:43.

23. Britney Coleman and Carlos Valdez singing 1001 Nights was a wonderful surprise and literally so beautiful, also their exit as Dylan started singing was so cute.

24. I’m kind of sad that they didn’t actually sing Twisted in the medley cause that was one of my favorite songs, but I understand that they had time constraints.

25. After 32:38, I feel like I need to watch the Lego Batman movie to see how similar it is to HMB.

26. Semi-disappointed that they didn’t do the usual choreography for the “I want to be your friend forever” part, but I respect that the handheld mics restricted them.

27. The bass or guitar or whatever in the background at 36:30 was so groovy, I was a fan of that.

28. Tbh, I didn’t really get Denise’s whole bit about how Starship is a show only for dreamers, it just felt a little off to me.

29. I’m a little bummed that Joey didn’t sing Status Quo, but I like that they gave it to Mariah and Alex who both have lovely voices. I appreciate that they had a moment to shine when they might not have because they are newer members/ only had a small role.

30. Brian and Jaime’s eye contact with the camera at 40:48 is so powerful and I’m here for it.

31. Joey mouthing the lyrics at 41:21 is so funny and I love it.

32. AJ’s little jump in the background at 43:02 is so cute.

33. Their constant need to have to avoid saying dick throughout the whole MAMD section is so good and hilarious, with so many expertly timed entrances from AJ Holmes and Joe Walker.

34. Joey saying no to the different microphones at 44:00 is absolutely artistic and fucking hysterical. It gave me similar vibes to Bo Burnham’s bit about seeing the most beautiful penis at a urinal.

35. 45:40, AJ Holmes is a delight of a man, need I say more.

36. “Do I smell?” “Pretty bad.” 45:07

37. Seeing Meredith and Brian standing next to each other at 48:49 makes my heart so happy cause this is what brought them together and now they are married and it’s amazing.

38. “We’ve written on all of the Starkid shows” 50:46, what a powerful statement.

39. I had no clue that the Starkid movie (1997) was a thing and I love that Nick just straight-up roasted it.

40. The subtitles at 52:56, dramatical instrumental music. I am here for it, I love this revamped version

41. Darren is so extra singing Goin back to Hogwarts and I am here for it. Our boy has grown so much! 

42. Pulling out the glasses at 54:03 is a power move.

43. I’m not sure about how I feel about people singing along to the songs during this. I know it is supposed to be for the fans but don’t people want to just sit back and listen to how amazing these people are and just enjoy. Maybe that’s just cause I only am viewing it through a computer and if I had been there I might have felt different, but who knows.

44. 56:05, AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! It’s Bonnie!!! She looks amazing and I’m so happy that she’s here!!!

45. Joey trying to the clap in the ear with mic at 58:04.

46. 58:16, I love how Darren always hypes up the crowd for Lauren’s entrances as Draco, he’s done this a number of times and it makes my heart so happy how he supports his friends.

47. I love Lauren so much the way she moves across the stage at 58:57, the power stance at 59:05...absolutely incredible.

48. I love seeing Rob in the chorus cause he was a fan, he loves AVPM just as much as we do and now we get to see him up there performing one of the most iconic songs. It honestly just makes my heart so happy.

49. 1:00:12, Dylan emerging from the audience is honestly so funny to me and I love him for it. Also, I love the ongoing trope of the “welcome” getting progressively longer each time they perform the song. Bless Dylan’s lungs and abilities to sustain that note.

50. 1:03:45 Jim little butt taps are so good.

51. The saxophone at 1:04:19 is so enjoyable.

52. I like how the slowed things down for Home at 1:06:10 with Darren sitting on the stage just having a personal moment with the audience, it was really nice.

53. Darren’s hops at 1:08:45 are so adorable and I love them.

54. I know that AVPM songs are iconic and everyone loves them, but I would have liked to see them so some more songs from AVPS and AVPSY, especially since they had some time rehearse them and there would be no mic issues.

55. Yay for a Bonnie and Meredith duet, both women are wonderful and have done an amazing job as Hermione and I love them both.

56. “Art imitates life a little bit on that one”, it’s okay we love you Darren with your silly guitar.

57. I didn’t think watching this would be educational, but I now know what a litmus test is and what slant rhymes (aka really pushing it rhymes) are thanks to Darren and google, so there’s that.

58. This may be a bit controversial but I feel as though this was one of the weaker performances of Granger Danger, usually Joey and Lauren have fun with it and I love it when they do, but this time they seemed to be more going through the motions. There were good moments (i.e. Joey’s hips, Lauren sliding down the mic stand, the back and forth head turns) but overall it was just kind of eh.

59. Darren’s twirl at 1:28:36 is delightful.

60. I firmly believe that AJ has permanently memorized the fantasy monologue and I refuse to let anyone tell me otherwise, 1:31:10. Also, I’m curious if it was planned because someone in the audience calls out for it, but that might have been a plant so who knows.

61. I just realized at 1:32:20, where he’s talking about mouse wives and concubines that would be bestiality. He only shrunk his size down, he would still technically be a human...

62. Tyler Brunsman singing Guys like Potter is now kind of funny considering AVPSY and Cedric ending up with Lily in the afterlife.

63. Joe Moses face at 1:38:57 is classic Snape and I am here for it.

64. Another yay for Sidekick, this is one of my fav AVPSY songs and Joey kills it every time.

65. 1:43:19, goddamn that man can hit a high note.

66. I love the addition of Rob to Everything Ends, what a pretty song and Rob’s voice works wonderfully with it.

67. 1:44:58, Rob struggling with the mic is hilarious.

68. Classic Snape speech at 1:46:30, simply inspiring.

69. I love Jaime and we all know her voice is incredible, but something seemed off during Not Alone and at times it sounded like she was struggling.

70. 1:51:56, I don’t know if I just don’t know much about music but Joey’s make was a little off, but on another note, I think it would have been really sweet if they had let Lauren sing too so that Draco could finally add to that harmony.

71. That sick piano rift at 1:54:33, hell yeah!

72. Even though they always use Days of Summer as the closing song, I love it every time, it’s just so fun and gets me so emotional.

73. That key change at 1:56:50 tho.

74. Yay for enthusiastic but sometimes questionable fanart ;)

75. Brian and Joe recreating the ending scene of AVPM is absolutely beautiful and I am here for it.

76. The matching jackets at the end speaks to the fact that Starkid at its essence is just a bunch of friends who were theatre nerds and wanted to create something fun together and I think that's wonderful.

In conclusion: Props to whoever made it to the end of this ridiculously long post summarizing the different thoughts I had while watching Homecoming. I truly think it was something for the fans and I love them for it. I am so proud of Starkid and all they have accomplished since 2009.

I want to encourage others to continue to support Starkid in the future, maybe even by purchasing Homecoming for themselves, I would definitely recommend giving it a watch. Also, feel free to respond and let me know your own thoughts on Homecoming, I’m sure there’s lots I missed and I would love to hear what others thoughts. 

[ariagrans]

🖤 🇴​🇴​🇨​ 🇦​🇵​🇵​🇷​🇪​🇨​🇮​🇦​🇹​🇮​🇴​🇳​ | 🇬​🇪​🇹​ 🇹​🇴​ 🇰​🇳​🇴​🇼​ 🇲​🇪​ 🖤

How long have you been roleplaying?

↳ It’s been a solid 9 years now! I started off in Starkid Productions roleplays, a fun college musical group that Darren Criss started out in, and he was my first muse ever.

What are your hobbies outside of writing?

↳ Aside from work and sleep taking plenty of my time, I’ve started dedicating this year to being a content creator for my other blogs and also slowly learning Korean.

Do you have any pets? Tell us about them!

↳ I do! 2 actually, a dog named Thor and a cat named Cali. I’ve had Cali for 2 years now and she’s the light of my life. I’ve had Thor since new years, and he’s still a pup and acts like it, but he’s my baby.

If you had a month of free time to learn to do something new, what would you choose?

↳ I’m incredibly interested in seamstresses? I just think to be one would be incredibly useful and creative, and if I had the time to invest in learning even the basics, I’d be down.

Do you listen to music while you write? What are three songs on your playlist?

↳ Sometimes! It depends on what mood I’m in, and if I’m struggling to focus. It’s super weird but my playlists are of an artist’s full discography since I can listen to one artist for a long time if they’re my mood. I’d say my top three artists to listen to are Ariana Grande, Stray Kids, and Halsey, though!

What’s a favorite recent youtube video/channel?

↳ Dylan is in Trouble is a movie commentator/roaster, and our very own Nikki can vouch for how funny he is! I’ve been watching him so much since I discovered his channel. @hcurly​​

Tell us one random fact about you!

↳ I love, love, love horror movies! Specifically the Scream franchise and you could quiz the hell out of me on that one.

Who is an FC you’ve always wanted to use but haven’t yet?

↳ I’ve yet to play Halsey, and I genuinely love her. I think what’s held me back is wanting my other muses to write against a Halsey instead so we could love her down.

What’s a plot you’ve always wanted to write but haven’t yet?

↳ I haven’t really thought about them lately, but you know.. I think from exes to best friends would be cool. They don’t ever have to be romantic again, but they’re okay again and then beyond that they’re closer and more supportive than anyone else? I love that shit.

Do you have a favorite plot you’ve seen someone else in the group do

↳ I've grown super fond of seeing Timothee and AnnaSophia. They’re just super precious, and I love everything about their chemistry and what they’re doing. @itstchalamet​​ @itsannasophiahq​​

Who on the dash makes you smile?

↳ Oof, you could being twist both of my arms and I still couldn’t just give you one answer. Of course I get a big grin when the love of me life ( @mlaney ) is doing replies on all her boys, and Nikki knows how much I love them. For almost a year now, KJ ( @hqnessa ) and over a year with Sam ( @dcvescameron ) and Lara ( @evanpeaters​ ), they’ve really been my best friends that can keep me grounded in my emotions, so seeing them on the dash and participating with all of us is always a pleasure. Might I add that I’m hella fond of Emmy ( @flcpvgh​ ). Her muses are so fun and interesting, and I’m smiling ear to ear when I see and hear from her ic and ooc! Of course I love this group as a whole, and our dash runs because of each and every one of you, and though I’m very much so a baby among many of y’all, I think of these players as my own babies and you’ve got all of my love. I smile every time I think of how I get to be a part of this with you.

What is your favorite memory in the group?

↳ Being brought in to be a part of the Admin team has been one of the best experiences I could ever ask for, and it’s amazing to be one in a group that I hold so dearly to my heart. I knew when I joined that I wanted this roleplay to be my home, and now that I get to help carry it on is just a wonderful feeling. Each day that passes is another day that I feel closer to my fellow admins, so I’ll use this spot to let them all know that I love y’all very much. @ohlizzo​ @itsgenevievegnt​ @larsonhqs​ @joekcery​ @diannahq​ 

What’s your favorite thing about your celeb(s)?

↳ I hold all of my muses close to my heart, and I follow them closely in the real world to further feel connected, so it’s hard to pick one thing that I love, but.. I love how dedicated Ariana is to making her fans feel loved. She does so much for us and works her ass off to keep giving content. Even when social media can be too toxic to handle, she still makes sure to get on to interact with those who love her, and she cares about us and the world as a whole. As for Fionn, it’s so hard to learn much about that boy sometimes since he’s so private, but in the three years I’ve stanned, I’ve picked up on how accepting he really is and he’ll turn down bigotry in a heartbeat. Niall might be my newest muse, but he’s the one that I’ve followed the longest ever since 2010, and what’s not to love about that boy? He’s a guy that I’d want always around just cause I know the vibe in the room would be so elevated and happy because of his presence and energy.

What’s a plot you miss?

↳ Of course I hold a special place in my heart for all past ships I’ve experienced here like Kenari ( @hqnessa​ )and Fernrock ( @evanpeaters​ ), but there are a lot of friendships I miss quite a bit. Like Ariana and Joe with @hcurly​ / Fionn and Asa with @jocklowden​. Both friendships brought me so much joy, and the teasing with both cracked me up all the time.

What would you love to see this group do in the future?

↳ Just more of what brings us all together! I’ve said it before, this group is my family and to be a family, we’re all stickin’ together and we’re here for one another, and anything that can really spotlight our connection to one another is what I’d look forward to.

@hollywoodland-hqs​

[spaceorphan18]

I'm new to fandom - what are the better boyfriend olympics? I've heard that phrase being used a lot to talk about Klaine but I'm not really sure what's going on.

Hi Nonny! Welcome to fandom :) Pull up a chair as I give you a history of the BBO and how it started.  I actually think it’s kind of fascinating now that I’m not living through it, lol. 

Okay, so let’s go back to 2010 when there wasn’t a Klaine fandom, there was a Kurt fandom.  A lot of the BBO stemmed out of the Kurt’s Boyfriend Shipping wars of 2010.  

Back then, there was just a Kurt fandom, and a lot of opinions about who he should date.  Believe it or not, Kurt was shipped a lot with the other guys on the show, there was a healthy dose of Kurt/Finn, but Kurt/Puck was huge, and there was a smattering of Kurt/Mike (I never really did see much Kurt/Artie now that I think of it, which is kind of funny in retrospect, but I’m sure it’s out there.)  Anyway - when the show announced Kurt was getting a boyfriend -- well, things began to get heated up.  

Three big ships emerged

Kurt/Sam - because the rumor was that Sam was originally supposed to be Kurt’s bf (probably not, but that rumor was big at the time).  Btw, they were the canoe ship (I have no idea why) and was also known as Kum (rolls-eyes).  This ship’s fanbase was so huge and lasted so long, that the show felt the need to address it head on in Season Two’s Rumours (not a joke).   

Kurt/Karofsky - Also known as Kurtofsky, they were also called themselves the Pirate ship (god, Idk why, shipping wars are weird, yo).  These people were also really passionate, mostly about Dave, but liked the whole idea that Kurt would save Dave and they would have this weird - enemies to loves love affair or something.  I don’t know, I could never get past the squicky assault aspect, but whatever. 

Kurt/Blaine - which. at the time, was... the biggest possibility? It’s funny cause the other two ships were just as big as the Klaine ship, and really the fighting became over who was going to be the best option for Kurt.  

And that’s the thing.  Fans of Kurt were so passionate about who was best for Kurt, because everyone had seen him go through hell and back on the show, so his boyfriend needed to be perfect for him.  And you know who was perfect (at first) -- Blaine.  More on that in a second... 

However, Blaine brought his own bit of baggage -- namely fans of Darren Criss (and/or Starkid fans).  Unlike Chord Overstreet or Max Adler, people knew who Darren was before he was on Glee.  So his own fandom joined in on the Klaine of it all.  At first it was all fine -- as the shipping wars continued, it was less about Kurt vs Blaine and more about Klaine vs the other shippers.  Well, that was going to change.... 

Original Song happened and Kurt and Blaine got together ending the question of who would ultimately be Kurt’s boyfriend.  And things were nice and cozy headed into season 3.  You’d think the Kurt/Sam and Kurt/Karofsky ships would die out, but not really, they stuck around for a long time, and kinda morphed into something else.  

See, The First Time happened.  And for the first time Blaine wasn’t the perfect prince that he was in season 2 -- he had more of a developed personality, and more flaws.  And... some people didn’t like it.  (Also added to the mix was Sebastian -- and the Seblaine and Kurtbastian ships were born, but those kinda go off on their own thing and I’m not really going to bring them up much here.)  Anyway, what really got fandom split was Dance With Somebody. 

You had two sides of an argument, people who saw Kurt’s POV and people who saw Blaine’s POV -- and guess what happened.  The two sides began to fight with each other over who was “right” in the argument.  (My god...) And thus started what fandom started referring to as The Better Boyfriend Olympics. 

See - for reasons I don’t fully understand - instead of seeing that each of the boys have a fault and each were wrong in the episode, each side wanted to say that their side, and their POV was the correct way -- that one boyfriend was more oppressed and the other was not as good a partner.  

On the Kurt side, though, you had a lot of the old Kurt fans and ships who didn’t like Blaine (and/or didn’t want Blaine as his partner) so they vehemently decided that unless Blaine was the perfect boyfriend again, he didn’t deserve to be with Kurt.  Meanwhile, you had the Blaine fans, many of them Darren fans who wanted Blaine to have more depth to him than just being Kurt’s boyfriend, and not being Kurt fans first (or originally) they were going to push back at the Kurt fans who were lashing out at Blaine. 

Compounding this was the fact that during season 3, there were so many cast members and characters that unless you were Finchel, you were begging for scraps and your featured episode to come along.  Meanwhile - Kurt got a ton of screen time, but didn’t sing much, while Blaine sang a lot more, but didn’t get much story.  The Kurt fans resented that Blaine was always singing.  The Blaine fans were annoyed that the Kurt fans resented it, and tried to remind the Kurt fans that Blaine barely got any development.  

Either way, a war had begun.  And then The Break Up happened.  

Now Kurt fans had a specific reason to point at -- Blaine being a terrible boyfriend.  He cheated.  He’s terrible.  The end. 

The fandom was not firmly split into sides - you were either a Kurt fan - a lot of them who HATED Blaine - partly because he was getting more attention at the time, partly cause he did sing more, partly because they were made up of Kurt ships that didn’t work out, and partly cause they saw so much of themselves in Kurt that they projected onto him their own feelings, and loving Blaine was not a part of that projection.  Or you were a Blaine fan - who spent a lot of time defending Blaine to the point of exhaustion, and became so resentful of Kurt that they wished Blaine could be with anyone else because Kurt (fans) didn’t understand Blaine and should just stop trying. 

Weren’t there any Klainers you ask? Ha, well.... Klainers, people actually liked Kurt AND Blaine were stereotyped into two categories.  Category A) the really really loud fanbase (usually on Twitter) that harassed the creators, RM, Chris, Darren, various crew about Klaine every second that they got -- to the point that it started to feel embarrassing (that’s probably my own projection).   Category B) People who thought (think) that Chris and Darren were (are) in a secret relationship.  (Spoiler alert they aren’t, never have been, and never will be.)  The two of these categories overlapped A LOT, and many of the fans of one boy or the other just disassociated completely.  

You could still be a fan of the Klaine relationship, but you had a preference to which boy you were actually a fan of -- you couldn’t like both, or else you were a Klainer, and that was not cool.  (I spent a long time NOT identifying as anything, and trying to make sure everything I did and said was equal -- a) cause I was new to fandom and b) cause I hated that either one or the other of these characters were villainized so frequently.) 

Anyway - Season 4 continued.  Adam showed up, and Kurt fans got all excited, but the problem was that a lot of them saw him as the perfect boyfriend again -- not a real character but a prop that could make Kurt look good and be everything for Kurt.  Look, I liked Adam, I did, but he was underdeveloped, and this weird idea that your boyfriend needs to be perfect in order to be a functioning relationship is just unrealistic.  I digress.  Meanwhile, we didn’t get a lot of Kurt POV, which didn’t help things, and meant even more projection over his character. 

Meanwhile, the Blaine fans had formed their own community, which became viciously defensive of him.  I think the whole fandom was toxic during this time for a lot of reasons, and I really wanted to quit it.  Many people did -- the show wasn’t being fun anymore. 

Season 5 came along, the boys got back together, tempers simmered, but the whole idea of the Better Boyfriend Olympics came back every time a conflict happened.  Arguments about who was the better boyfriend ensued, gatekeeping as to why their pick was best and why your opinion sucked still ran through the fandom.  Not helping was the fact that Cory had died, and the creators, actors, and crew -- as well as media -- was tired of Glee.  

The one nice thing, though was that a lot of the old crowd had moved on by then, and there was an influx of newer people coming in during season 5 (and season 6) -- they weren’t here for the season 3 droughts and season 4 wars, and brought in a newer and fresher perspective.  

But still - we had the end of season 5 and the summer of spoilers and season 6 to get through.  At this point, the Kurt and Blaine camps had moved to their parts of the internet and really not speaking much to each other if they could help it.  When an argument happened on the show, the same kind of Better Boyfriend Olympics came up again -- one boyfriend was worse than the other, and unless they changed xyz they were not good enough for the other.  But at this point, it was incredibly tiring.  I know that I was just ready for the show to be done with. 

I should say, as an aside, not helping things were the rise of some rather vocal BNF-ish fans, who dug their heels in about their own opinions.  The refusal to even acknowledge that one side or the other might be right, or have valid points was not helping anything.  A lot of people on both sides refused to even listen to the points on the other side -- and instead of being frustrated at the show, the creators, or whatever, they took it against each other, which wasn’t fun to watch either.

Season 6 happened - Blainofsky happened, and that killed enthusiasm for the season on both sides, most people just kind of wanted it to be over.  And then the ending came quickly, and I think a lot of people who were just plain unhappy about everything left for good.  

The Better Boyfriend Olympics, or this weird competition that always pitted the boys and their fandoms against each other in the name of one being better than the other, leveled off after this.  I won’t give myself /that/ much credit - but one reason I created @todaydreambelievers was to give fans of both Kurt and Blaine a safe place where we could enjoy and discuss both boys without the BBO rearing its head.  And you know what -- it did mend a few hearts.  

For the most part, it’s been pretty quiet since.  Fandom is quieter, but I think the people who have come into it after the show has ended are a lot less judgmental and argumentative.  (I suppose it helps if you know how the story is going to end.)  And the cool thing, for me, is finding a group of people who enjoy Kurt and Blaine equally (or respectfully) -- and reclaiming the name Klainer as a good thing.  

I’ll end by saying this -- it’s been relatively peaceful, even with the influx of new people throughout the years, but I have been seeing shades of BBO pop up again.  Look, you don’t have to like Klaine to be a fan of one or the other of them.  But there are a lot of terrible things going on in the world, a lot of things to be angry and get indignant about.  How a fictional couple was written ten years ago is not one of them.  Be respectful of people, and know that maybe the side you understand better isn’t the only side worth listening to.  ;) 

[fungi12325]

So I just watched Starkid Homecoming (spoilers beware) and here are some of my thoughts :)

- The GLEE reference omg :D

- Jaime in Join us and Die?? Incredible!

- And Robert was so extra that was amazing :)

- The whole of Firebringer was great :)

- And how the crowd reacted to TTO starting, omg :)

- I have no words for how great ANI was! That was fabulous!

- Omg No one Remembers Achmed was amazing

- When the three of them came out to sing the song from Twisted? I played that over and over again it was so good!!!

- Super Friends was incredible as always :)

- “This show is a show for dreamers”

- “3 hour long space opera” mood

- Status Quo was amazing!!!!!! Mariah? Amazing!!!

- “we had nothing to do with that movie... and it’s not a good movie”

- YES AVPM

- It deserves the hour that was dedicated to it

- The GLASSES

- Joey’s headband!!!!

- BONNIE YES YES

- The croud joining in with “I’ll be transferred to Pigfarts!”

- How does Dylan have that much air????

- Quirrlemort YES

- YES BONNIES BACK

- COOLEST GIRL?? UM YES

- THEY’RE SINGING TOGETHER???

- YES DOUBLE HERMIONE!

- Those harmonies?!?!?!? Incredible!!!

- omg it’s the guitar

- Darren’s nails are amazing

- The Cho Chang Song!!

- THATS IN CANADA

- hahah the dragon song :)

- Granger Danger!!!!!!

- hahah the audience clapping as the tap shoes is amazing

- GILDEROY, THE MOUSE PRINCE

- Just the whole of Guys Like Potter. That’s it. Incredible

- “am I the hottest?” *crowd screams* “no I’m not”

- omg Everything Ends was so beautiful

- omg Not Alone?!? The four of them reunited!!!

- Also can I just say that Jaime’s necklace is beautiful

- aww Daren’s little speech made me cry

- “when you hear a “bop bop bop” you know what to do”

- “Hufflepuff’s are particularly good finders”

- “ok is wonderful”

- how they moved to join each other

- all singing not alone

- and their JACKETS

- UM YES

Sorry I just.. This was great