#Fairy Prince Jon

[thothreposts]

He’s the eye fairy. He collects your baby eyes when they fall out and gives you forbidden knowledge in exchange. When your adult eyes grow in you’ll never be the same again.

Blame taxes.

Fairy Prince Jon Concept

[Image ID: A monochrome green drawing of Jonathan Sims from the Magnus Archives as a fairy prince. He has moth-inspired wings and his costume is roughly based on Tudor menswear./.End ID]

No, he’s not all green. I just got lazy colouring at 12 am and didn’t want to think about colour schemes. This is sort of an elaboration of that Fairy Prince Jon sketch I dumped here and also an exercise in how many eyes can i subtly stuff into a fairy tale fantasy costume. Honestly most of the development I have for this AU rn is visual so lmao.

[hipsternumbertwo]

Cinderella's Castle 🏰🧌🐸🐭⚔️🤴🏿👸🏿

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

BRYCE CHARLES as ELLA ASHMORE

ANGELA GIARRATANA as THE STEPMOTHER

JAMES TOLBERT as THE PRINCE

CURT MEGA as TADIUS

KIM WHALEN as THE FAIRY QUEEN OF SWEET DREAMS

LAUREN LOPEZ as RANCILDA

MARIAH ROSE FAITH CASTILLAS as PUTRICE

JON MATTESON as SIR HOP-A-LOT

[blackcrystalball]

That was an experience like no other.

I felt so many emotions I did not expect to feel. Something about it really touched me in a way the other starkid musicals have not. I'm going to be thinking about this for the rest of the year, and will be watching it again before I go to sleep tonight.

Also, Angela was fucking spectacular, and fucking gorgeous. Truly the icon of my life.

And Tadius was so charming, all of Curt's characters are loveable, but Tadius is truly so special to me.

I'm being so serious when I say Starkid is one of the greatest things to happen to the world and I hope more independent theatre companies emerge as time goes on.

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

THERE'S A CASTLE ON THE HILL, AS THE STORY GOES...

As promised, some initial thoughts on the things I loved about seeing this show. Spoiler free, since most of us haven't gotten to see it yet, and under the cut since I do wax a bit poetic...

Cinderella’s Castle is, in a strange way, an exercise in irony. The show is a retelling of an ancient story that is beloved and recited throughout so many cultures, and yet somehow feels completely fresh. The modern take on glam-punk lighting, a score infused with styles from 80s synth to anime, a high fantasy set with the costumes to match, the spirit of Jim Henson lingering through both the puppets and some larger and intangible vibe, a script combining that Starkid humor and Hatchetfield darkness with a whole different style of speaking… all of these beautifully executed elements melted together into something that I’ve never before seen. To take a tale as old as time and make it unique is no easy feat, but Starkid did so with magic and charm to spare.

Like any good Starkid show, Cinderella’s Castle is relentlessly dynamic: fun and tragic and exciting and just-plain-silly, with many twists and turns and character moments will make you gasp or cheer just as often as you laugh. It simply rollicks. The story clicks right along, especially in act 2, but the characters are so distinct and fun that I found myself almost wishing the Langs had sacrificed their plotting and pace just to spend more time hanging with every single member of this ensemble of personalities.

And that’s also a tribute to the actors themselves. Jeff is David Bowie reborn as the impish and fabulous narrator. Jon and Joey bring Hop A Lot and Crumb to life with so much charm and presence that they practically had the audience eating out of their hands from the very first second. Like, seriously, you will not believe how invested you will immediately become in these talking animals. Kim’s Fairy Queen is as radiant and terrible as promised; her portrayal of immortal inhuman power compels and commands and stands fully distinct from the Lords in Black. Lauren and Mariah are delightfully disgusting as the vile but deeply lovable troll step-sisters; you can feel the fun they’re having practically radiating off of them. Curt’s Tadius is dryly funny and put-upon, but also provides a vitally grounding and centering presence in the larger-than-life world of the Lands That Are. His big scene with Bryce is probably my favorite part of the whole show. James Tolbert is nothing short of an absolute STAR as the Prince, stealing scene after scene after scene with ease and charm and more jokes about genitalia than I think any of us expected. Angela once again displays a completely different facet of her never-ending range, exuding such elegance and control even in trollish filth that I do fear that the kids on the internet are going to start calling her “mother” with greatly increasing frequency. "Facade" was an absolute highlight of the night. And of course Bryce anchors, propels, and heightens every scene she’s in with such apparent ease you forget she’s been rehearsing for weeks and isn’t simply Ella herself. Ella is this world’s bruised, brave, and angry heart, and you will absolutely root for her every step of the way as she wrestles with who she is and learns what it means to claim her own power.

This was Starkid’s biggest budgeted show to date, and you could tell. This group of Michigan Wolverines and friends have accomplished incredible things since the Very Potter days of a single door and some cardboard columns, and I’m so proud of how far they’ve come. And yet Cinderella’s Castle, the fifteenth musical in the fifteenth year, still retains some of that core Starkid magic that I’ve always believed boils down to love. You can so often see that love emanating from the performers on a Starkid stage: love for the show, for their friends, for their craft, for the audience’s energy pushing them through. And the sense of love and support and community radiating from the audience is just as palpable. The man sitting behind me last night was at his first ever Starkid show, and afterwards he remarked in awe how that was the best audience he’d ever been in. And all that love isn’t unearned—it is built and it is nourished by a proud history of creativity, of song and of dance and of laughter and tears. And Cinderella’s Castle, I think, is going to prove an installment worthy of both Starkid’s past and future.

Starkid family, Bogs Hollow grants thee Starlight.

[amaltheas-garden]

Jon and Sansa will bring the story of Rhaegar and Lyanna full circle:

We have very few details on the relationship between Rhaegar and Lyanna, but what we do know is Lyanna was in an unwanted betrothal to Robert at the time she disappeared with Rhaegar. Whether she went willingly or not is up to speculation. Aside from Robert, most accounts agree that Rhaegar embodied the fairy tale prince-like character (prior to the war). Lyanna wept at the beauty of his music, and was crowned his queen of love and beauty before leaving her family forever. Her story ends alone in Dorne, dying in her bed of blood, abandoned by the man she thought would save her, begging to go home.

It's easy to see then, the parallels between Lyanna's ill-fated romance and the romantic dreams of her niece, Sansa Stark. Although the two share few similarities in personality and hobbies, both became enamored by princes who hide their darker nature, and lured them away from the safety of their homeland, before going to war with their families. However, Lyanna's story ended far from the North, dying in childbirth, whereas Sansa has escaped that fate (even more interesting considering Lyanna's book storyline is a near one to one of Sansa's in the original outline). And, if we recall the very beginning of A Game of Thrones, Robert proposes to Ned that they wed Joffrey to Sansa, joining their houses as he and Lyanna might have. There is a conscious effort on Robert's part to set the past right through the relationships of their children. So right from the jump Sansa is cast as the Lyanna stand in, though she too escapes her "Baratheon" betrothal, and is on course to run straight into Rhaegar's son (as per the girl in grey theory).

So where does Jon lie in all this? If we take the girl in grey prophecy to be about Sansa, we know the two will meet sometime in the near future. Sansa has already become disillusioned of her chivalric ideals of love and knighthood (that's not to say she doesn't believe in heroes and honorable knights, just that she's far more skeptical of surface appearance), and yet, it will be her bastard brother who will embody the traits of the hero Sansa has been searching for. Rhaegar appeared as the perfect prince, yet was the one to kill Jon's mother, and Sansa, in a similar situation, is seduced by the charm and beauty of Prince Joffrey, only to be exposed to his vicious cruelty, narrowly escaping his family (even more interesting to consider Lyanna, had she survived, would not have been Queen, as Elia was still his lawful wife, and would be considered a mistress to the King as there was no chance of her escaping Rhaegar now that she carried his child, similar to Joffrey marrying Margaery, while threatening to make Sansa his mistress). Jon on the other hand is the brooding, solemn, plain-featured bastard, sharing no traditional qualities with that of the typical hero. That is to say, he's about as far from Rhaegar as you could get. And yet, it is Jon who commits himself to defending and protecting those who cannot (Sam, the wildlings, Alys Karstark) because that's who he is. No songs are sung for the men of the Nights Watch, he doesn't gain anything by protecting those others might deem weak, unworthy, or exploitable, but he does it anyway. Jon does not look nor act the part, but the strength of his moral character is what distinguishes him as the unconventional hero of the story.

I would also draw a comparison between the legend of Azor Ahai sacrificing his wife Nissa Nissa and Rhaegar's "sacrifice" of Lyanna, to bring about the third head of the dragon he thought necessary to save the world. After reading @/stormcloudrising's phenomenal metas on Sansa's connection to Nissa Nissa/the Amethyst Empress, I believe the idea of sacrifice will appear again in relation to Jon's character arc. Many in the fandom have speculated that AA/NN and the Bloodstone Emperor/Amethyst Empress are one and the same, the former featuring the sacrifice of a wife, the latter a usurpation of a sister. Sansa already occupies the (false) position as Jon's sister, while Jon has refused to usurp her rights as heir to Winterfell. However, with Jon's parentage reveal, the opportunity of a Jon/Sansa romance becomes possible, potentially elevating her to the status of love interest. And, if we're going with the NN/AE are the same theory, it would mean she occupied the role of both sister and wife. As for Rhaegar, his prophecy obsession is what led to him endangering Lyanna, placing his need for the third dragon above her own safety, ultimately killing her. Jon spends a good chunk of ADwD with Stannis, a claimant to the title of AA/the Prince that was Promised, who similarly struggles with the question of sacrificing one life to save the world, "What is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?” (ASoS) To which we already know the answer, Everything. Stannis, like Rhaegar, will fail the moment he sacrifices Shireen to fulfill his "greater purpose". Daenerys is also a claimant to the title, and we will likely see a contrast between how she and Jon approach being Rhaegar's heirs and inheritors of the prophecy. Stannis will lose everything after Shireen's death, the same as Rhaegar when he left Lyanna to die, condemning House Targaryen to death in the ensuing war. Jon will likely face a similar decision of sacrifice upon discovering he could be the subject of prophecy that consumed his father and once honorable king. And just as he refused to usurp Sansa's claim, he will reject the sacrifice of a loved one (lover perhaps?) as prerequisite to fulfilling his role as AA/TPtwP.

Jon's character always comes back to his identity as a Stark. Discovering his true parentage will undoubtedly be a source of inner conflict, culminating in his decision between Stark and Targaryen (spoiler: its Stark). It's a classic case of sins of the father, and how Jon asserts himself as an individual outside of his father's tainted legacy. Jon being the hero to Sansa and helping her return home would effectively resolve the generational conflict caused by Rhaegar's "kidnapping" of Lyanna away from the North. Rhaegar caused immense amounts of pain to the Stark family through his one act of selfish cruelty, which Jon will rectify through one of loyalty and selflessness. And narratively, Lyanna's son being the one to save her niece and return her to Winterfell would just be so chef's kiss.

[princesssarisa]

The idea predates that novel too.

It was also used as the twist ending in Jon Scieszka's picture book "sequel" to the tale, The Frog Prince Continued, back in 1991.

In that book, the Prince and Princess have marital problems because the Prince can't shake his frog-like habits (hopping on the furniture, sticking his tongue out all the time, etc.), so he finally leaves her and looks for someone to change him back into a frog. He meets various witches and fairies from other fairy tales, but none of them can change him back, and he starts to miss his wife. Eventually he goes home, where he and his wife reconcile and kiss. The kiss changes them both into frogs, and in that form they live happily ever after.

An important thing too many people are unaware of.

Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" is NOT based on the brothers Grimm's The Frog King, more commonly known in the English world as "The Frog Prince".

Or rather it is inspired by it, but in a secondary and distant way.

The ACTUAL source material and main inspiration behind the movie is a fairytale novel published in 2002, named "The Frog Princess" by E.D. Baker.

So if you see someone claim for example that "Disney invented the idea of the girl kissing the frog becoming a frog herself" you will know these people have NOT done their research - because it was present in Baker's novel, and formed the entire plot of it.

[shhhhimwatchingthis]

Cinderella's Castle Lore:

Some interesting world building/character lore dropped in Cinderella's Castle that may be further explored in The Lands That Are:

There was a time when the sun was blotted out and Trolls controlled/had free reign over the lands that are. What happened to sun? how did humans bring it back?

The Fairy Queen of Sweet Dreams, The Goddess of All That is Green and Good:

So much to chew on from her scene:

She was 'caged' in the land of death, so who caged her there (killed her)?

There are Nine Good Gods worshipped in the Lands That Are, but when Ella names the goddess of love the Fairy Queen has never heard of her, implying these gods are false/don't exist. If they are a real power in this world, they aren't as old/powerful as the fairy queen.

The Lady Ashmore: was the stillborn she placed at the roots of the old oak her still born child (a sibling of Ella's?) if not where did she get the body? how did the Lady Asmore know of the goddess of all that is green and good? how long had she worshipped her? Finally if her version of the ritual had succeeded what was the sweet dream she wanted the fairy queen to grant her?

The Grizzwald Bastard: part of why Justine and Lucy believe Ella about her step mother is they know about Trolls because 'their bastard brother hunts them' this is just such a specific detail I feel like this brother has gotta come back in some way

especially interesting to note he slays trolls, when there's a whole scene with our Narrator and Master Dwarf spelling out that trolls are fucking hard to kill, so how powerful is this guy?

The Narrator: this one is super small, the type of detail that drives me insane but I don't know if anyone cares. At the very end of the play, when the peasants bow for Queen Ella Ashmore, the Narrator clearly bows to her as well. As the Narrator. What i mean by this is unlike say Kim, who is in that scene costumed as a peasant, the Narrator is in the same outfit he has always been,he is not a background peasant, he is still clearly the Narrator. But he interacts with the story. He bows to Ella. This is the only time he does this. What does this mean, if anything? That he met Queen Ella Ashmore? That he was there? Are you thinking about the implications?

Some Miscellaneous points, not from the show itself, but from cast/creator comments:

The Fairy Queen of Sweet Dreams wanting revenge against the King and Prince, and that being part of why she pushes Ella to her own revenge. This is a hint dropped i believe from Kim Whalen about the Fairy Queen's motivation in one of the promo vids about her character. Brings up the implication that the royal family was behind the Fairy Queen's imprisonment in the realm of Death. (or at least did something that infuriated her)

Jon Mattheson in a cameo to a fan mentioned the possibility of Sir Hop-A Lot...or his descendants returning in a future show. Ella wishes for Sir Hop A Lot to 'sire many tadpoles' and grants him the lands of the swamps (land that would pass to his heris). Interesting to think of the other Castle shows taking place in the Lands that are but centuries apart. (either centuries before or after Ella) some interesting themes about the nature of stories and myth could come from this. What are the stories of Queen Ella Ashmore in the Lands That Are hundreds of years after her reign? Could be cool to hear stories of the events of Cinderella's Castle and see how they differ from the version the narrator told us.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Quartet That Started It All

As followers of this blog will note, this is not actually the quartet that started it all for me, but it DID launch author Tamora Pierce's career in the 1980s, and Alanna remains absolutely beloved among Pierce's heroines. Let's talk the Song of the Lioness Quartet.

In a classic case of "if I can't do this as a girl, then I'll do this as a boy and I have a handy twin brother to go full Twelfth Night with," Alanna of Trebond begins The First Adventure by dressing as a boy to train as a page in Tortall's royal court. This book introduces all our main characters and establishes Alan the page amongst his peers and Alanna as she finds herself and her place in chivalry.

One of the other amazing things about Alanna's story overall is that she begins it absolutely terrified of her own magical gift. Her arc includes learning to work with her magic rather than to fear it, and that's a twist on magic users that I really appreciated. We often get overly confident magic users--indeed, we'll get TWO of them later in the series--but it's rare that we get magic users who are fully aware of their powers and are still absolutely terrified of them. So of course, the story and the world and Pierce herself keep throwing Alanna into situations where she has no choice but to develop and use her gift. It's so, so good. This first book covers Alanna's page years, and we move into her squire years in book two.

In the Hand of the Goddess really expands on Alanna's key relationship with Prince Jon on Conte, Duke Roger of Conte, and Geroge Cooper. Alanna moves into a wider world of adult politics and stakes in this book. From being able to defeat an older, stronger, and more experienced opponent in a duel to developing her healing skills when a wound puts her out of commission during a war, Alanna cements her skills, connections, and position in society. This culminates with unmasking Roger as an attempting regicide and the accidental reveal of her gender.

This book is really, really good, and extends Alanna's childhood fear of magic to her fear of Roger specifically in a really natural, logical way. I could say more about the details, but these two books have an episodic vibe to them, so I won't spend too much time exploring every single key plot event.

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man sees Alanna spending her first year as a knight in the desert, with a Bazhir tribe. She becomes their shaman by way of self-defense; she murders their first shaman when he tries to murder her for "being unnatural." Then it falls to Alanna to train three magic users for the tribe, and this is where we see more nuance into how different magic users relate to their powers, from sheer hubris to fear to "this is just part of me, let's do this." It's a phenomenal experience for Alanna, and she learns as much from her students as they do

Book three also sees Jonathan bitching to hell and back about having to be king, which is not a great look, and it's one Alanna calls him on. He spends most of the book alternating between pitching a hissy fit, begging Alanna to marry him, and training to take over as Voice of the Tribes. The interesting thing here is that Alanna refuses to marry Jon. He is trying to fit Alanna into his own fairy tale, and she very much goes "That isn't our relationship, I can't do that. We aren't meant to be like that, and that's ok." If I could inject that lesson into humanity's collective head, I would. It's well done and it's great.

Lioness Rampant picks up on Alanna's travels after she leaves the Bazhir, and eventually sees her return to Corus with a magical artifact to help secure Jonathan's position as king.

There's also the teeny tiny complication that Alanna's twin brother, Thom, has resurrected Duke Roger. Absolute chaos ensues, and Roger almost manages to take out the entire court during Jonathan's coronation. Nobody should have to kill an evil sorceror twice, but Alanna did.

If you want to dive into Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe, starting with Alanna is absolutely a good choice. These books hold a very soft spot in my heart, and they're never not engaging.

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 ℑ 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱, 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔯 𝔱𝔬𝔬 𝔭𝔬𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔪𝔢. 𝔖𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞 𝔣𝔬𝔬𝔩 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔩 𝔶𝔬𝔲. 🥀

...

(this is prob the most girliest thing i drawn so far. but i always had an inkling for classic fairy tales set ups. less for the story itself, more for the aesthetics. an’ i’m also weak for armour an’ knights / medieval related stuff on main. everything during that era looked so pretty, even if it wasn’t super practical. 

i was thinking about various arts / figures, that depict bruce dressed in actual knight's armor, an’ thought about his an’ crane’s situation in arkhamverse. comparison between a pretty princess, who needs a savior cannot be further away from who jonathan is, but at the same time, there are some interesting lil parallels to such stories an’ his narrative. as jon’s mantra in arkhamverse was literally related to this. ‘no more savior. no more hope. no more batman.’ he wasn’t even secretive about it or anything. all those 3 things are intertwined an’ related inside his mind. all of those things make an outline of who the bat was for him. 

i thought about the time, jon had crawled out from the sewers. mangled an’ shocked, an’ in pain. the anger came after. at first, there was a need to do basic things first. to treat the wounds. he’s bleeding pretty badly an’ his leg hurts. his face….i imagine, that it wasn’t pleasant to see in the mirror what became of it. those days are probably hazy for him. he mostly sleeps an’ tends to his re-opening injuries. then, once his mind is clear enough an’ pain is numbers down by meds, he thinks about what happened. how it happened. an' at this point, comes a disbelief that the bat just…let this happen to him. that he just left him to die an’ drown. that he did nothing to prevent this from happening.

crane would doubt this at first. maybe, he just remembers it wrong? but he looks at himself, feeling how he can barely move his leg, how his face is barely a face anymore. an’ no, there is no doubt. the bat had turned away from him, refusing to save him *that’s how he imagines it was, at least* jonathan never realized how much he idealized the bat, how much he relied on him coming to his rescue. with rage, enters a brief grief too. that’s the end of the line, bc if the bat won’t deem him worthy of saving, if he won’t save him anymore, won’t bring jon even a sliver of hope, then he should no longer be batman at all. 

this was basically the concept behind the first art. an encapsulated moment of jon’s hope breaking for the last time. things as intense as they are bleak. the plan is being formed. their mutual un-happy ending creeps near. but in that moment, it's just kinda painful. being abandoned by the only person, who seemed to care enough to at least not let him die.

the second art is more heavily connected with the song itself. in a way, this is an AU concept of them being the prince, who is also a dark knight in secret an’ the lonely, wicked alchemist. the main idea is the same as their story in arkhamverse. jonathan gets to know the knight an’ becomes somewhat dependent on their ‘shared roles’, feeling betrayed an’ scornful, when the knight fails to save him from uh. a dragon. so he returns with a scheme to destroy his once savior, in the end finding out that his failed knight was prince all along. i suppose, the only big difference in this AU be that jon’s ft needle glove is similar to needle in sleeping beauty story, an’ once you get a ‘taste’ of it, you fell into nightmares, but like, literally fall asleep. it’s pretty much similar to what happened to him in the actual arkhamverse as he appeared to be borderline unfunctional in the end. 

but since in this AU they have a bit more time to themselves vs just plot, plot, plot. bruce actually has a chance to grasp jon’s emotions a tad better. having a more clear idea why he was so viciously upset with him. it won’t fix anything, knowing the reason when it’s too late. nothing can be undone with a kiss here. bruce was revealed as brooding prince, who took the persona of mysterious knight an’ jon is in a kind of slumber, that prob cannot be broken.

no happy ending here, either. but it’s a bit softer in nature. as there are just two of them in the ivory tower. the dawn comes, but doesn’t manage to bring any comfort nor break the spell.

at first, i drawn bruce’s mask similar to what a knight’s helmet might look like, but i thought that i actually like it more, when it’s unclear if he’s in the mask or not. when it's hard to tell who he is in the moment, when he looks down at jon. the fallen knight or broken prince. i also like how in arkham knight jonathan saw maskless bruce in his batman attire still, so it's a bit of a call back to this too.

like, this is one version of what happening there. i suppose, this also can be some sort of fever dream, that either *or both of them* have. in the end, it’s free for interpretations. i just wanted to draw smth kinda 'poetic', even if sad for them. i do appreciate all the gloom misery in arkhamverse, but i also like more sappy-ish an’ beautiful things too. esp bc with villains like crane or mysterio, it feels kinda wrong to not use tropes, that they might be familiar with via books / movies. an' that they hiliriously enough often fits into, despite being bitter, twisted middle aged men.

aaaan' that’s about it. 2 takes on arkhamverse canonical events. one is more grounded, the other one is flew off the rails lol. regardless, i actually really like these 2 drawings! i was messing around with colors, trying to use the shades an’ tones, that i usually avoiding. at some point, both of arts were greenish, but it was just such a wrong mood. an' i guess, otp holding each other in their arms is like one of my fav poses ever. it's just so precious to me.)

[ad-astrah]

Cinderella's Castle Digital Ticket Reactions (Part III)

"GOOD. Good. Good. good. goo--*sobs.*"

Starkid does one little concert in London and suddenly EVERYBODY'S got a British accent. lol I'm just joking. They work here with the setting of the show and as a way to differentiate characters. And I think it was smart of them to only use the accents for minor characters that only briefly appear.

"because your labor pained me and I swore that I'd get you back and...well, that time has come." Honestly, she's a real one for that. Also that line delivery was so perfect. Angela's comedic timing is so good.

I was actually rooting for Rancilda, though. The blowjob jokes that she and the prince could've shared...

"fits like a glove." "It's a shoe, stupid!" "IT'S AN EXPRESSION, DUMBASS."

Again, I just love how stupid and wildly different and fun Mariah's character is in this show! Love seeing her range.

🎶LA LA LALA LA LA LA LALA🎶

Tadius gettin' the fuq outta there. He knows shit's goin' down.

THE CUT TO STEPMOTHER AND RANCILDA IN THE AUDIENCE.

Tadius' face during these vows. Gives me Chris Pine sitting through an interview with Harry Styles vibes.

Boooo. BOOOOOO

EAT YOUR HEART OUT, RANCILDA.

HISSSSSSSSSS

When Ella came back I was like: WELCOME BACK, QUEEN. SLAY.

THE HAIR. THE ROBES. THE LONG SLEEVES. This is so fuckin' dope.

I DON'T WANNA LIVE YOUR DREAM ANYMORE, MOM. I LIKE RIDDLES...I'M GOIN' BACK TO THE BRIIIIIIIDGEEEE. YEAAAHH!" Honestly, I love that for her. Go live your dream, Rancilda!

How did the outfit get MORE. DOPE. YASSSSS ELLA. WERK BITCH. This chainmail-like look literally and figuratively KILLS.

And thus Winnifred Sanderson the Stepmother dies.

Tadius just casually admitting to regicide.

"Who knows! I wasn't there." Biiiitch.

Queen Putrice. lol gurl was queen for like 5 minutes.

I thought he was proposing for a hot sec there. And as good of a power couple I think they'd make, they ain't ready for that yet. They got boatlads of fuckin' trauma to unpack and I'm pretty sure neither of them have ever been in a relationship before lol. They gotta take that ish slow.

Wasn't quite expecting an 80s gospel ballad but it makes sense and it works. Especially with Bryce's powerful, soulful voice. Gimme that power ballad gilrboss vibe.

Yo, listen to how GOOD Jon Matteson sounds! And whilst using a character voice, too! Proud of you, boo. He's come such a long way since GWDLM.

SING IT BRYCE. FUCK YES. HOT DAMN.

Jeff working the crowd like the attention whore he is and we love him for that.

Jeff's falsetto is insane!

I'm wondering if Ella's wardrobe was all green as a reference to her mother's dancing and praying in the forest in front of that tree and to the Fairy Queen herself? I feel like it's symbolic and not just a "Bryce looks good in green, so let's make her entire wardrobe green" thing. Although she DOES look good in green.

Another brilliant, hilarious, incredible show from Team Starkid. I cannot WAIT until the Youtube edition comes out and all Starkid fans can watch it over and over as much as we want and soak up every little detail and joke and make all the memes. I know they'll never see a post from lil ole me, but THANK YOU, TEAM STARKID, for making my days brighter, my heart lighter, my laughter louder, and my smile wider.

[abelllia]

i want to make a masterpost or masterdoc about all the stuff I have on the Fairy AU/ Fairy Prince Jon AU because my gosh I wrote so many things about but lack the ability to make a whole comic or fanfic about it

[hipsternumbertwo]

The Cast of StarKid's New Fairy Tale Musical Cinderella's Castle [Kickstarter]

[silliest-basilisk]

ok so i watched cinderella's castle and uh. ok here are my thoughts: first of all, the things i loved:

the puppets! thats what i was most excited about when it came to this show, and boy they definitely delivered. sir hop-a-lot and crumb were my favourite part of the show, and jon and joey knocked it out of the park as them!

the set design and lighting! i really loved the set, and the way they played with lighting was GENIUS. the fairy queen's entrance, and the way they used the blacklight during ella's entrance with the starlight dress so that you only saw the dress was amazing.

THE COSTUMES!!! they were gorgeous god!!

the choreography!! very nice as always :}

now onto the things i liked less...

way too many sex jokes for my taste. i know it's starkid but they don't usually lay it on this thick. it just made me cringe.

speaking of, i just generally didn't like the character of the prince very much. i found his style of humour kinda clashed with the tone of the show. james tolbert's acting definitely saved the character imo

and the absolute biggest disappointment for me: the soundtrack. god i'm sorry jeff really shat the bed with this one. purely sound-wise it's fine (though i'm not really a huge fan of the poppy feel of the music. i think the inclusion of electronic music is very interesting, but i personally would've preferred a more baroque rock type sound but that's just personal preference), but the songs were just extremely un-theatre-like. they suffer from what i lovingly call the "dear evan hansen problem": they're generic and vague songs where the character just sings about one feeling throughout the whole song. there's no evolution, which is KEY in musical theatre. for almost all the songs except the fairy queen's and one other song in act 2, i was just sitting there like "...ok? why is this song happening? it's telling me nothing". you could cut like 90% of the songs from this show out and you could still understand the plot perfectly well. the most egregious example being right at the start - the opening number. an opening number is supposed to introduce us to the world and the characters, and the opening number of this show does... neither. it just tells us there's. a castle on a hill??? ok??? what do i care??? the songs also feel very short - likely due to the lack of a bridge in most of them. bridges are important in musical theatre!!! they're usually the turning point of a song!! without one, this show's soundtrack feels empty and like it's missing something. and unfortunately, the overall poor quality of the other parts of the music also highlights jeff's poor lyricism. i can usually let it slide because the other aspects of the soundtrack are very good, but this time it's just... no. nobody's ever strung these words together in the history of man. fuck you mean "a cat that was strayed"??? nobody says that!!! god!!! also why are they talking about "neon lights" when the universe we're in is a medieval fantasy? i would've excused it normally, but earlier in the show, they SPECIFICALLY avoid mentioning a modern invention when the prince says he "dodged a sword thrust" instead of "dodged a bullet". so yeah overall, i feel like this show could've used a different songwriter, perhaps someone like the aj holmes and kaley mcmahon duo from twisted? but yeah those are my thoughts. no shade to you if you loved the ost, but i just personally found it weak! OH AND ALSO ELLA'S OUTFIT POST-RESURRECTION WAS A DOWNGRADE SORRY NOT SORRY!!!

[plant-lesbian569]

Finally got round to watching Cinderellas Castle

Bryce was absolutely incredible as Ella, I knew she could sing but her voice blew me away. Ella is such a great character too, you can see that she is deeply traumatised with hopes and dreams and Bryce conveyed that brilliantly.

James as the Prince was honestly one of the highlights for me. Going in I wasn’t sure that I’d enjoy his character but from the moment we first saw him I was hooked, he was so funny.

Angela is such a good villain. The Stepmother commanded the stage. There were moments that I completely forgot it was Angela because she was so different from how we’ve seen her before. Girlie has range.

Lauren and Mariah were amazing as a duo. Justine and Lucy were lovely and then the contrast to Puttice and Rancilda. So glad Rancilda got to live under her bridge in the end.

I really wish we could have seen more of Kim as the fairy queen of sweet dreams, although I fear it is common in Cinderella adaptations for the fairy godmother to be a brief character. Either way her voice was incredible and I loved how they did her multiple arms.

Curt as Tadius was as great as I expected. You could really tell how increasingly done he was with the Prince throughout the show.

Jon and Joey really brought those puppets to life. Crumb and Sir Hop A Lot I love you both forever.

And Jeff Slayed as the narrator, what more can I say.

Overall I loved the show. I cannot wait to listen to the soundtrack and see the proshot. I think the last few songs at the end of act 1 were probably my favourite but that view might be different on rewatching

[jackoshadows]

How is Jon Snow ‘idealistic’?

He’s one of the most pragmatic Starks in the books, which is something considering he is only 14/15 when the story starts. There’s a reason Maester Luwin tells Jon that ‘bastards grow up faster than other children’.

It’s Jon Snow who stays up at night worrying over his future and not any of the responsible adults, because he knows the realities of being a bastard. It’s Jon who makes the hard decision to go to the Wall because he has no place at Winterfell, not Ned or Benjen. Ned refuses to deal with this until Catelyn forces his hand.

 It’s Jon who explains the unfair rules to Arya about the difference between Robb and Bran practicing in the courtyard with the prince while Jon sits it out. It’s Jon who reassures Arya when she goes to him afraid that she too is a bastard. It’s Jon who leaves his name out so that the other Stark kids can get a direwolf.

Yes, Jon does not know how much the Night’s Watch has fallen as an institution in terms of it’s members now being outlaws, rapists and murderers. That’s because no one tells him the truth and not because he believes in songs and fairy tales. Benjen only tells him that it’s a hard, tough life with life long celibacy and not about it’s current status as a penal colony.

That’s why Jon ends up appreciating Tyrion Lannister as a friend, because Tyrion is the only person who does tell Jon the truth. That’s why Jon is hurt, that his own father send him to the Wall without telling him what the Wall has now become and then giving him a choice.

[Note: In fairness to Ned and Benjen, they both probably still think it a great honor to be a brother of the Night’s Watch. Like all the Starks before them they hold the Night’s Watch up as this important historical institution that has to be honored and then fail to actually support it in terms of funding and manpower]

Jon not recognizing that his fellow peers don’t have his education at the start of AGoT? That’s not idealism. That’s him not recognizing his privilege. At Winterfell he’s the bastard compared to his Stark siblings, always judged as less than them by nature of his birth. It’s only once he gets to the Wall that he realizes, with Donal Noye’s help, he has had it better than the other new recruits.

Jon wanting to be a ranger? That’s ambition, that’s self-confidence. Notice how after Sam Tarly explains that being a steward intern meant being groomed for leadership, Jon is immediately accepting of the decision.

Jon being angry and bitter at the unfairness of his world is not idealistic. Being angry about inequality and only being able to imagine a fairer world in dreams is the opposite of idealistic.

Jon’s not trying to end world hunger or trying to legitimize all bastards or set about righting all the wrongs of Westeros. He’s trying to do the best he can at world’s end on a little patch of land called the Night’s Watch for his fellow crows and freefolk there.

When Jon sends out the paper shields to the Crown in KL, he is angry and cynical and knows they will not send him any help. He is cynical about goodness and integrity which is clear from his interactions with his deputies at the Wall.

If anything, Jon Snow is ruthlessly pragmatic. Whether it’s taking child hostages, or telling the Freefolk that they will only get more food if they work for it or hiring spearwives to defend an entire castle or taking on Satin as his steward because he is good at it or using Wun Wun to rebuild or doing actual science experiments, all his decisions are immensely practical - which is why 99% of his policies keeps clashing with the outdated dogma of the likes of Bowen Marsh and Septon Cellador. 

‘You Know Nothing’ is a play on Socrates ‘I know that I know nothing’, an acknowledgement that he has yet to learn a lot despite being Lord Commander. The people he holds in high esteem are the likes of Donal Noye, Maester Aemon, Qhorin Halfhand and Samwell Tarly. 

It is true that all the Stark children growing up in the relative safety and comfort of home and family have lofty ideals as children. That’s the innocence of children. And then they grow up. This quote encapsulates that:

When Jon had been a boy at Winterfell, his hero had been the Young Dragon, the boy king who had conquered Dorne at the age of fourteen. Despite his bastard birth, or perhaps because of it, Jon Snow had dreamed of leading men to glory just as King Daeron had, of growing up to be a conqueror. Now he was a man grown and the Wall was his, yet all he had were doubts. He could not even seem to conquer those. - Jon, ADwD

Jon Snow is keenly aware of how hard his job is in terms of actually being able to help people. Idealistic is not a word I would use to describe him.