#little matchgirl is such a sad story :(

[pokecolours]

Froslass and Chandelure, as a reference to the little matchgirl.

[nono-bunny]

Thank Starkid for uploading VHSCC to Youtube, albeit temporarily, because their site doesn't work for me so I couldn't buy it or any other digital ticket (including Cinderella's Castle for which I was a kickstarter 🥲) and I'm so glad I can still watch it now!!

Anyway here are my thoughts/liveblogging post from watching! I didn't think to do this until I reached the second part and realized I had a lot to say so everything about the new material is retroactively written

I. Hate to say it, but I can't remember a single new song. One reason I love VHSCC so much is because it only took me one watch to remember the songs, they're incredibly catchy and iconic... And the new ones did nothing to me.

In general I didn't really vibe with the new material? I think it's important to note that I don't celebrate Christmas, like, it's not even the main wintertime holiday of where I live so inherently theres a level of disconnect for me with that angle, but I still find some Christmas stories charming- case in point, I genuinely love A Christmas Carol! I know these two stories outside of the lens of Christmas- I'm fairly certain I heard a different holiday version of Gift of the Magi as a kid, and I had the book of The Little Matchgirl as a kid and didn't uh. Really touch it after reading it once because I found it senselessly sad. So like? I'm familiar with these stories, but this version of them really didn't hit me in the way I think they're meant to or in the way the original versions do. I didn't really find Gift of the Magi touching or funny, which I feel like is what they should've gone for at the end, and I felt... Nothing with Little Matchgirl, which surprised me because I was fully prepared to cry.

Actually it. Felt really preachy while also somehow being just completely empty of meaning to me? Little Matchgirl in particular. Idk. The tragedy of it just... Completely failed to land for me when Clark immediately starts singing about uh. Activism essentially? It's like, bro, you didn't even give me enough time to process it or to get sad before you just started preaching at me??? Idk, I just. Really didn't like it. Clark's parts in general were the worst parts of the new material in my opinion, which surprised me, because I did like them in Christmas Carol! Idk, it might be a matter of the stories being too short, so it feels intrusive for the detached narrator to cut in to fill in blanks that weren't there or to hammer down the message, instead of letting the characters and story do it themselves.

I genuinely don't enjoy shitting so hard on the new stuff, but. I didn't really like them and kinda just wanted them to be over so I could watch a show I knew I DID like. I don't think it was all bad, I mean, the acting was fun and everyone's obviously mad talented, but in terms of musicality and story, which are the two things I really loved about Christmas Carol, it felt like a big step down for me. Also, I did like how Scrooge was just. There though, that was really funny

OK! Moving on! From here on its probably gonna be way more positive lmao because I love VHSCC and this is it now!

The smaller cast feels weird with how big the OG one was, in general the different casting is gonna be interesting. The stages configuration is a pretty big difference, but it does feel like, intimate which was probably really fun in person, and I like how they're playing around with it! I'm also less of a fan of this screen so far, it basically added nothing but uh. We'll see ig

Scrooge actually screeching after Clark narrating him doing it was a fantastic addition lmao. It caught me (and seemingly the audience!) so off guard and it was hilarious!! AJ has generally been way less physical than Dylan so far, which I kinda missed, but ngl he completely won me over with that one lmao

Meredith is so pretty, she's nailing it!! As I knew she would but. Still felt noteworthy lol

OK ngl given how Jaime was just. Not in the first half but still credited I was 100% sure she was not gonna be there physically, just through the screen similar to Ali in the OG, so I was actually really fucking surprised when she came out??? Where were they hiding her for the entirety of the first half!!! Travesty!!!

God the spirits are just as attractive a year later (two technically by the time of me watching this, but shh), they're SO good. A stark contrast to Clark's awful wig, actually, my god what is up with that thing???

Fuck yeah, physical chains!!

I wonder why they changed some of the interstitial lyrics? I mean, the snore was hilarious, but this isn't the first change and the previous one didn't have a comedic element added in.

The new choreography is excellent, I'm actually really happy with the stage for facilitating these changes

I'm sorry Curt is too much of a sweetheart and I'm really having a hard time buying him as post-money Scrooge lmao. He eats the singing though! Brian did too, but weirdly enough only on stage and not in the recorded version lmao

Janaya is fr so talented, I'd love to see her in other Starkid stuff!

I miss Corey. Unrelated to where I'm at in the musical rn but I forgot to mention it at the start. Brian is just. A completely different Fred and it feels weird

Best song incoming! VHSCC is what made me fall in love with James- it was the first time I saw him in a bigger role, and I can't wait to see him in Cinderella's Castle

Just wanna clarify: Brian's Fred is still fun, he's just like, different from Corey's? He's more... Sarcastic, if that makes sense?

Every year that goes by makes Brian playing Tiny Tim funnier

Thief Brian is giving Junior vibes lmao

I knew about Della and Jim replacing the gay couple so that wasn't surprising, but a nice cameo nonetheless, especially with how Scrooge bought Jim's watch lmao

Okay the "screen" aka what seems to be a sheet of fabric being projected onto is just. Completely pointless and useless aside from minor ambience. Not only have they lost the VHS aesthetic it had, the actually fun and cool effects just don't seem to be possible with it and it sucks

I do love the rest of the vast staring at and then dragging Scrooge down, that was cool

Is. Is that the ghost of the Little Match girl orrrr...? Are we dealing with an AU situation? I mean, the Della and Jim resolution doesn't necessarily conflict with what we saw and is very sweet too but. This sure raises some timeline questions lol

Matching uncle and nephew sunglasses 🥰

I wish more Starkid shows included the curtain calls, those are always so fun and they feel important to recreate the feeling of watching live theater, even through a screen.

Anyway, I'm done watching now! Final thoughts? Might warm up to the first half upon rewatching (not like it hasn't happened to me with some shows before!), but initially I'm not the biggest fan. I can't say that this rendition of a Christmas Carol is better, but it's absolutely not worse either, and honestly that's all I wanted really. It was still tons of fun, and I liked it a lot! There's for sure a disconnect between the two halves though- heck, even between the two stories in the first half- and they feel... Too different to me, so I can't exactly say doubling the length was exactly... Worth it? One advantage of the OG is that it's short, which results in me frequently rewatching it, and this doesn't really have the same advantage, especially not considering I'll probably only really wanna rewatch the second half Anyway... Regardless, I still wish I could've paid them to watch this last year, it sucks that their site just. Doesn't work for me, so I'm glad that they made it accessible for me here. And now I'm eagerly awaiting Cinderella's Castle!

[princess-ibri]

Have you considered to put The Little Matchgirl short in the DisneyVerse?

Sure! Truth be told that story always made me sad but it isna beautifully animated short film, I don't mind it being canon to the DisneyVerse

[pickalilywrites]

Honestly I wanted to pick about ten more of these but I managed to narrow it down. So I guess you can pick one or if you think you can do it ram them all into one. 😊 1. “Your hands are freezing!” 2. “Why is there mistletoe everywhere?” 3.“What’s that smell… are you making cookies?” For EreHisu please and thank you! Maybe Eren is out shoveling snow and Hisu comes out and brings him back inside to kisses and cookies? 🤔

i thought i was gonna struggle w/ this one but i came up w/ the perfect idea for it i hope u love it!!!

The Little Matchmakers

EreHisu. Canonverse. 

1304 words. 

Buy me a ko-fi!

Historia finds baking relaxing. She loves the time she has alone in the kitchen; it’s a nice change from the constant bombardment of papers and meetings with different government officials. It also gives her a brief break from always playing with the children in the orphanage but still allows her to keep an eye on the children as they frolic in the snow outside. She smiles when she hears their shrieks of laughter as they throw snowballs at each other and build snowmen. Historia watches as the kids hang from Eren’s arm, shouting excitedly as he swings them about. She laughs at the sight of it – Humanity’s Hope playing so gleefully with children – and her hand covers her mouth to hide her smile. She’s so distracted that the sound of the timer going off startles her. The queen picks up the timer, frowning at it. She’s surprised that so much time has passed without her noticing. It seems that she was only looking at the window for a second, and now the cookies have finished baking without her even noticing. Historia sets the timer down and walks over to the oven, opens it, and pulls out the freshly baked cookies. 

On second thought, she probably should have noticed that the cookies were done earlier. The scent of chocolate had been subtle before, but the fragrance fills the room once Historia opens the oven to take the cookies out. She sets them out on the wire rack on the kitchen counter to cool. If she had less restraint, she would pop one in her mouth right now – just the thought of the fudgy cookie melting in her mouth makes her salivate – but she manages to leave them alone, satisfied with just licking the powdered sugar from her fingers after she’s finished setting the cookies on the rack. 

Historia stands back to admire her work. It’s a shame that Sasha isn’t here today – although, that might actually be a good thing. She’s sure that the huntress would appreciate the chocolate cookies – the beautiful cracks on the outside and the coat of powdered sugar that reminds Historia of snow. Well, Historia’s sure that the children will enjoy the cookies anyway even if they’ll most likely just pop them into their mouths without taking a look. She’ll just let them cool for a bit before calling the children in…She takes a look out the window to see what they’re doing now, but she doesn’t see them outside. Historia frowns, rubbing a sleeve on the window to clear it up a bit, and leans in closer. Still, she can’t see any of the children anywhere. All she sees are abandoned snow forts and snow people along with a trail of footprints in the snow. Historia’s eyes follow the trail, hoping that she’ll find out where they’ve gone once she gets to the end. She starts from what she thinks is the beginning – a crowd of footprints in the snow near one of the trees near the front of the farmhouse – and follows it as it loops around until it nears the farmhouse. She’s nearly at the end of it when the door to the house opens. “It smells delicious in here!” Eren says, holding open the door with a grin. The children are behind him, pushing past each other so that they can see inside. “Are you making cookies?” “Well, yes,” Historia says, wincing a little when the children all cheer loudly. She starts to usher them in to get them out of the cold, brushing the snow off their clothes before they get it all over the kitchen. To Eren, she says in a low voice, “They need to cool for a minute before they’re eaten, Eren!” “Nonsense! Cookies are best right out of the oven. Everyone knows that!” Eren replies with a laugh. He reaches out to pull a beanie off a little boy’s head, shaking the snow off it before placing it back on the boy’s head. When he does so, his fingers accidentally brush Historia’s. “Your hands are freezing!” Historia says in surprise. She clutches Eren’s hands in hers just to make sure. She frowns when she realizes that Eren isn’t dressed for the weather at all. While all the children are bundled up, Eren’s only wearing one of his military coats without gloves or a scarf. “You could get sick! Aren’t you cold at all?” “A little, now that you mention it,” Eren admits with a sheepish smile. He follows the last kid in, shaking the snow off his boots before he enters the kitchen. He inhales the sweet smell of freshly baked cookies as Historia moves behind him to shut the door. “It’s a good thing you lured me in here with those cookies, huh?” “Hey, you’re going to get snow everywhere,” Historia says, yanking him back by his collar when he moves to join the children at the kitchen island where the cookies are. She sighs when she sees all the snow still on his shoulders and reaches up to brush it off. It’s very like him to look after all the children and forget about himself, Historia thinks. “You even have some snow in your hair.” “It’ll all melt soon anyway!” Eren says, but he stoops down a bit to allow Historia to brush the snowflakes from his hair anyway. When she’s finally done, he stands up again and gives the queen a lopsided grin. “Is it good now? Can I finally have some of your delicious cookies?” Historia is about to lecture him some more, but she immediately stops once she sees his smile. She can always lecture him later, she supposes. She’s about to invite him to eat the cookies, but she hears the children burst into giggles. The queen looks over at them and they try to suppress their laughter behind their gloved hands, but their giggles can still be heard. Leaning over, Historia whispers, “What are they laughing at?” “I don’t know…,” Eren says, his voice trailing as he tries to look at what the children find so amusing. It looks as though they’re looking at him and the queen, but he doesn’t see what’s so funny about the two of them together. He looks a little more closely around them – the mat, the door, the doorframe – until he finally sees what they’re laughing at. He looks up curiously, his arm reaching up to touch the holiday decoration that dangles above them. “Did you put this up there?” “What? How did that get there!” Historia says, mortified when she sees the mistletoe hanging from the doorframe. She remembers seeing it in the box of decorations that were donated to the orphanage, but she also recalls putting it away because they didn’t have any need for something like that here. Besides, she had always thought that it was a silly tradition anyway. Now she regrets that she hadn’t hidden that stupid thing from the children better. Flustered, she tries to push Eren inside and hopefully make him forget about as quickly as possible. “The kids must have put it up when I wasn’t paying attention. Let’s just go inside-!” “Why?” Eren asks, not budging no matter how hard Historia pushes. He touches the mistletoe again, admiring the snow-white berries. He glances over at the kids and then back at Historia. “We can’t disappoint the kids now, can we?” “Well, I suppose,” Historia says, relenting, but she feels her face grow warm when she hears the children laugh even harder. She should change her mind. She turns her head to tell Eren to forget all about it, but Eren has already made his move. The children cheer as the two adults kiss, happy that their plan had worked.

[that-catholic-shinobi]

I found an animated shirt of “The Little Matchgirl” and it’s gonna make me cry

it’s so sad but one of my favorite christmas stories

[hecvenslight-blog]

Archer, upon learning of the new caster and her name... chooses to leave a warm meal outside her room. perhaps this is spoiling her, but he'd always found her story to be sad, so she deserves some spoiling... at the least.

     – it was a mere few minutes before the little matchgirl would peek out from behind the doorway to her room. brown eyes laid on an unknown object that was to the side so it wouldn’t be stepped on by her clothed feet. she’d turn her head and her eyes would widen at the sight.

     - “ … umulig.. “ the girl whispers to herself before gently kneeling by the tray of food that was set by her doorstep. this wasn’t for her… was it? then again… it was placed by her doorway. but who did it? “ bedstemor? er du her? “ the caster whispered in her native tongue as she’d carefully lift the tray with her cold hands before retreating into her bedroom. surely she’d say her grace tonight.

[watertribe-enya]

Thanks for answering the question as to what happened after they walked into the end of the story :D

"If I wake up you'll just be dead again." Alright, this reminds me of the little Matchgirl and thus makes me rather sad. But of course Hob has doubts. The whole universe was at Morpheus funeral and someone else sits at his throne now. Who knows how many dreams he had of people seemingly being back or at least there with him, only to wake up in the end. Heck, Dream himself told Hob that he wouldn't thank him for dreaming of his dead girlfriend every night. But unlike Morpheus that wouldn't really have been her. A dream of her and not her as a dream.

Thank you Morpheus for leaving Hob that feather. Now he can have some fuckin peace. Until the next crisis. Uh oh, I just imagined Hob's dreamscape being invaded by blanks and Morpheus actually has to swoop in like Superman and save him from mind numbing lectures. Or he angrily kicks them out (can he do that?)

And now I'm picturing the two of them taking a walk in the dreaming and coincidentally passing the House of Secrets. Just as Abel crawls out of the well Cain threw him in. And he falls back in out of surprise.

The Sound of His Wings (A Sandman fan fiction)

@artwinsdraws @winterbirdybuddy   I felt I owed this to you two.   

_____________________________

 The Sound of his Wings

Weiterlesen

[zesty-zestiria]

Zestiria AU based on both The Little Match Girl and Cinderella. Or both together.

Send us an au and I’ll write headcanons/a drabble for it

*tear rolls down cheek* Gdi, Cinderella is my absolute favorite disney film, but the little matchgirl is so.. so sad. I might have to go with the little match girl for now. Let’s get down to business :’))

I just looked up the summary of the little match girl and wow it’s much sadder than I remember, prepare for a drabble instead of headcanons. I’m going to try and follow the original story the best I can -G

“Matches for sale,” Sorey tried again with faux cheer. A gloved hand waved away his offer as another hand pressed against his shoulder as a man maneuvered his way around Sorey. He felt a shiver jolt through his spine, the muscles in his back spasming painfully. Still, even in the dimming daylight he continued the attempt of selling his matches.

Soon enough, the crowd of people in the square wore thin until it was only him left underneath a flickering street lamp. He curled his toes in hopes of regaining feeling. Faintly, he heard a dog bark in an alleyway. Gathering himself, he stepped away from the streetlamp and towards the pathway home.

Fear clutched at his stomach, causing Sorey to stop and stare back down at the matches in his hands. Father won’t be happy, He thought grimly, flinching at an imaginary fist. He rubbed his arm where green and yellow bruises mattered his arm.

A gust of wind kicked tore through Sorey’s skin, chilling him further. He thought of the small fire that would be curling up in the hearth, producing more smoke than warmth. His father would be sitting in his chair, cigar smoke curling up around his mouth mixing with the alcohol on his breath. Sorey crinkled his nose at the thought. The house was never warm to begin with.

Sorey weighed his options: Stay out and most likely freeze or go home, where the most he will receive is a new bruise on his cheek and an empty stomach.

He peered down a vacant alleyway, spying a small roofed alcove. Sighing, he trudged through the snow and sat down in the alcove, happy that the ground was to some degree dry. He crossed his legs, pulling his threadbare scarf closer to his face and shivering.

In the silence, he found himself staring at the small matchbook he had been toting around. Rubbing his bare thumb against the sweat-damp cardboard, he studied the matches. Only three remained in the book; his father had refused to buy anymore for him to sell until the rest were gone and he had been very firm with the statement (Sorey had been slapped for trying to reason with him).

He leaned forward, resting his cheek in his palm. Using his thumb, he slid a match out of the matchbook and stared at it more. He pursed his lips and struck at the head of the match with a grimy thumbnail.

A couple of swipes later, a tiny flame bloomed to life.

Sitting up, Sorey held his fingertips close to the minuscule flame, reminiscing of the times his Grandfather would chide him about being to close to the fire as they lit lanterns at night or early in the mornings before they went out to milk the cows.

It was during those times the house felt truly warm.

With a little sputter, the flame flickered and died. Sorey exhaled a large sigh, watching his breath drift up. Fat, clumpy snowflakes had begun to fall.

He slid out another match and lit it.

Over the high rising buildings, the sound of sleigh bells and carolers drifted close. Vaguely, he could hear his mother’s voice mixing with the soprano’s of the women. A year ago, New Year’s Eve would mean sitting around a roaring fire as his Grandfather smoked his pipe, a faint scent of mint and tobacco clinging to his clothes. 

It was warm then.

Dully, Sorey watched as the second flame died and as the still-warm embers crumpled onto his pants. He brushed the dust away, leaving a dark gray stain on his fingers and pants. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out the caroler’s voices. With shaking fingers, he lit the last match.

The tiny flame seemed to taunt him. I’m everything you wish you had, it said.

“What are you doing sitting in the snow like that, Sorey?”

Lailah hummed a soft tune and drew her overcoat closer to her torso, crossing her arms around her bosom. The heels of her boots clacked against the stone of the sidewalk as she meandered towards the bakery, turning into the alleyway behind her store.

From her pocket she produced a set of keys, the sound of metal clinking together echoing from the walls of the alleyway. She continued to hum, switching the tune to a Christmas carol she had heard earlier that morning being hummed.

The keys slipped from her gloved fingers and landed on the ground with a loud clink. Lailah stooped, fetching the keys from the ground. She looked up.

A loud shriek pierced the morning air.

[ourheartscondemnus]

OOC: The Little Matchgirl from 2006-Disney- was one of the most beautifully heartbreaking cartoons I have ever seen. It just popped up on kisscartoon and I screamed “OH FUCK THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL! THAT’S SO SAD AND I CRIED AND I’M GOING TO WATCH IT BECAUSE I FUCKING HATE MYSELF!” 

Seriously, if you have not seen it, it’s absolutely incredible. The art is fantastic, the score is set to the third movement of Nocturne from String Quartet No. 2 in D Major by Alexander Borodin, and it’s a story by Hans Christian Andersen. It’s magical, but the ending is horribly depressing. Please, give it a go if you ever get the chance.  If you’ve heard the story you know how it goes, if not, I’ll keep warning that the end is bittersweet and sad.