#anyways i love starkid

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

I watched Ani BEFORE I was a star wars fan and loved it because I love starkid

Now that star wars has consumed my brain I’m scared for what this musical will do to me the next time I watch it

[fadedkat]

“sing it for me again, I promise I won’t forget it this time!”

[ricky-mortis]

It’s the perfect place for a picnic!

[merp-blerp]

Elpenor: *Dies because he was doing something dumb* Also Elpenor:

[yourlocalabomination]

Time bastard, You got some place else to be?

[willowparkfanclub]

this watcher news is so insane to me for lots of reasons but i cant help thinking of starkid. an independent musical theater company that has put all their musical productions on youtube for free for over 15 years. recently, those projects have cost easily over 200k EACH. yet, they keep posting it for free. why? because doing that provides for their fanbase, which supports them monetarily in other ways. they produced 2 musicals back-to-back in summer 2014 to still be able to support the company, and still put them both on youtube. they hit their 250k kickstarter goal in 3 DAYS LAST WEEK. they have tons of prizes and exclusive content that people can get for payment. people willingly give them that money because they are ultimately creating art for all of us to see, for free. it would have made perfect sense for them to stop doing this years ago, but they didn't, because that would go against everything that helped them become as big of a production as they are. imagine if avpm was never released on youtube for free! i guess my point is that there IS a way to make a profit and still release "free" content for the masses. watcher just doesn't seem to want to put the work in for that.

[yourwagonisaflame]

grace + max + textposts

[tabooiart]

hey girl your boyfriend is leaking blue goo everywhere. yeah okay just wanted to make sure you knew.

[cutesilyo]

the thing i really like about just for once in nerdy prudes must die is that it's best iteration of the musical within a musical trope that has become characteristic of the hatchetfield musicals

like both show-stopping number and deck the halls (of northville high) are catchy songs from in-universe musicals that were very much written to have plots that suck

and show-stopping number was so well-beloved because it is, frankly, a hilarious scene that robert manion put 100% into

but i argue that only just for once is thematically relevant to its musical and fully emblematic of the wants and desires of the character singing it

because what is just for once, as a scene? it's ruth singing a song because she thinks she's got a chance of doing it better. it's ruth singing a song about a character who looks back on the mundane miseries of her lonely life and — at the last second — remembering who she used to be before the pain set in. it's ruth singing her version of cooler than i think i am and reflecting on how she is perceived and wondering what it takes to break away from it. it's ruth singing right after she says, "in my dreams, i'm the star of the show."

of all the losers that max jagerman victimizes, only ruth says who she'd like to become beyond that. where pete can't even admit to liking steph at gunpoint and richie doesn't ever get the chance to verbalize what he wants, ruth gets on the stage in the few minutes of break time and just for once, the spotlight is on her.

and the really crazy thing about just for once is — it has the "i'm not a loser" motif. possibly the most iconic and important motif of the whole musical, it's the motif that starts the opening number. and here it is, in the silly musical within a musical by the silly character who has — until this song — always served as comic relief.

in the climax of the song, just for once is no longer the song of a character from the barbecue monologues. it's ruth's. in those few seconds, it's her lamentation of the life that max jagerman forced on her.

but that's the thing about the "i'm not a loser" motif. the way it functions in the musical is as a harbinger for max's violence. the police at the beginning ask, "what the hell happened here?" and its the motif that answers. pete is the first character that sings the line and is immediately beaten up by max in the next scene. then richie sings it and max kills him in the same song. when ruth has the motif running as the crescendo to just for once, it sounds absolutely incredible... and it should come as no surprise when max appears shortly after.

(as a quick note: you can also hear the motif after max makes the car crash, then max appears two scenes later. you then hear the motif in the cooler than i think i am reprise and max also appears right after the song. it's like max is instantly summoned by any instance of the losers trying to shake off the role he placed on them — of trying to defy him.)

tl;dr: the inclusion of the "i'm not a loser" motif in just for once makes it the big lipped alligator moment that wasn't. like yeah, it accomplishes its goal in being the funny musical within a musical trope! the character acting makes it a funny song, and its a funny character performing it! but it also furthers our understanding of ruth AND of what the "i'm not a loser" really is: it's the characters trying to develop past being nerdy prudes and max doing everything in his power to prevent that.

and it does all that while being a banging musical tribute to stephen sondheim and, especially, his song the ladies who lunch. which in itself is a massive flex on jeff blim's part. what a brilliant song in a brilliant musical.

[your-dead-european-ancestor]

She has a plan. Shes keeping her beans cool. She eats the souls of pervs. Shes a two bagger. She burried the bully. Shes making dirty girl soup. She called god a son of a b word. Shes insane shes crazy shes unhinged

I didnt say any names but she popped into your head didnt she?

[ratb4stard3]

⌚️🍏 Something isn’t Right, He holds himself all Wrong… 🔬🧪

⚠️ I am SO excited about this CowardlyGhostBros (™️) collab with @cowardlykrow 🎉🍾 SO MUCH SO that there are closeups under the cut. Look at these guys, man!! 🚨🗣️

[willczek-art]

The real nightmare of Nightmare Time is that there's so little of it

[ricky-mortis]

I love playing dress up with the blorbo

[antigonesghosts]

What I loved about Cinderella's Castle is it is so entirely about Ella. We know starkid can handle a show with tons and tons of characters but I found it quite refreshing for it to be so wholly her story? I think it was a lovely choice for this show and man Bryce did such a perfect job of it, she is truly such a star

[itsaboutspies]

Absolutely love that the hatchetfield series brought so many new fans to starkid but I wish people would let non hatchetfield things be non hatchetfield and not try relate it back to it all the time

[yourlocalabomination]

May I present to you one of the dumbest things iv ever drawn.