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autumnwhistles · 2 years ago

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Introducing Last Life SMP: The Musical

“There is an old, old tale to be told/Of green like the spruce, of crimson and gold...”

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Welcome to my Last Life musical. In two acts, and 32 songs, I aim to tell the tale of the Last Life SMP in a way that’s understandable to audiences who are fans of, as well as to those unfamiliar with, the source material. Following Martyn’s eyesandears lore, and using the Watchers as a chorus,

Some things to note:

The major characters, in order of importance, are: Martyn (because I’m following his lore, because he had the easiest storyline to adapt into a narrative setting due to the lore... and because his Last Life perspective is my favourite); Scott (as the winner of Last Life); and Grian (constant foil to Martyn, plus due to the lore followed, Watcher Grian is canon – that’s too interesting to leave him by the wayside). But, everyone is featured, and every alliance has focus songs.

I’ve tried to keep everything roughly as faithful to the events of Last Life as I can, but I do tweak some timelines, omit some things, and add moments of emotional reflection. This is for cohesion and for fitting with the musical art form.

Memories of 3rd Life are canon, as they are in the series. The fact there was another ‘game’ before their current one is one of the first things mentioned in the musical, and it’s referred to multiple times throughout the course of the musical (giving ‘last life’ a double meaning). Partly because it’s important to the characters, partly because I love it too much.

This follows the headcanon (and out-of-universe truth) that 3rd Life took place in Spring and Last Life in Autumn – there will be references to this in songs.

Ideally, this would not be a sung-through musical. However, due to copyright issues (among everything else), it’ll obviously be impossible to ever stage it. So, information about each song’s place in the narrative will be given in its description, and relevant dialogue will show up in the description and on the screen.

Auditions are currently closed! I’m currently singing in all the parts, but after I’ve released all the songs in order, there will be others singing them.

Finally, though it’s not explicitly relevant to the musical, here’s a long analysis of c!Martyn I wrote – it helps understand the angle I’m coming from with his character.

Song list – and links the relevant posts – below the cut.

-Act One-

1.“Overture/Middle of Nowhere”: We’re introduced to the Last Life world by the Chorus as players spawn in. Martyn seems to hear something, but brushes it off. FINISHED.

2. “Corners of the World”: We introduce Martyn’s character and mindset, and, through him, the burgeoning alliances. COMPOSITION FINISHED, RECORDING NOT.

3. “Down In The Mines”: Bdubs and later Grian relay the tale of the first Boogeyman kill, and the viewer is introduced to what the Boogeyman is.

4. “A(ha)lliances”: The Southlands ally, making a-ha jokes, and Pearl and Scott solidify their alliance via Pearl gifting Scott a life.

5. “You Bet Your Life”: At the end of the session, Tango goes around the server, introducing his game.

6. “Our Will Be Done (Precursor)”: Instrumental track. Martyn hears a mysterious voice speaking to him for the first time (he has no idea it’s the Watchers), telling him to give Ren some Nether Wart. He does so.

7. “The Three Skulls”: Grian introduces a plan of raising the Wither, and we’re fully introduced to his character.

8. “Debts”: Instrumental track. Martyn extinguishes Ren’s burning tower and Ren tells him of his alliance and pledge to Lizzie, reminding him of his time in 3rd Life. FINISHED.

9. “In Spring We Met”: Martyn’s meeting with Ren prompts him to think about how he treated and will treat alliances moving forward. The Watchers prompt him to get closer to Ren and thus further from the Southlands (unbeknownst to him, they want Grian dead). COMPOSITION FINISHED, RECORDING NOT. Note that some lyrics have been altered from the linked extract.

10. “Green, Crimson, Gold”: Joel is now Red after an unlucky session, and news of a Red name – and what that means – spreads throughout the server.

11. “Their Dubious Game”: Prompted by the server’s isolation of Red Joel, Scott wonders about how trustworthy the rules of the game actually are. After all, the forced isolation of Red names this time contradicts his experiences in 3rd Life with Jimmy, while Martyn, breaching the border with the Southlands.

12. “A(ha)alliances (Reprise)”: Time passes, and Martyn grows closer to the Southlands. However, he’s still meeting up with Ren who offers to introduce him to Lizzie and the rest of the Fairy Fort, potentially considering a betrayal. The Voice prompts him to accept this, as they can be useful in its plan.

13. “Their Delicate Game/His Dubious Game”: Grian talks about going beyond the border, showing the Southlanders how to do it. Later, Scott + Martyn discuss Grian's plan to get wither skulls.

14. “Northern Lament”: Below Magical Mountain, Joel fumes at being distrusted by everyone and isolated purely due to his Red name, and vows to get more “friends” soon. Above, Scar muses about being isolated and distrusted for the opposite reason, because of how many lives he has.

15. “Green, Crimson, Gold (Reprise)”: Cleo is betrayed by BigB, and Grian, Bdubs and Cleo fall to Joel or circumstance.

16. “Friends”: The Southlanders are informed of Grian's Redness. Grian desperately tries to kill Mumbo so they can still be with each other, while Martyn joins his first meeting with the Fairy Fort alliance (henceforth the Shadow Alliance).

-Act Two-

17. “Walls”: Scott muses about the many walls built to keep out violence. Grian has been exiled from the Southlands, the stone wall he built separating them. In the Snow Fort, Etho and BDubs build a wall to keep them separate until he can gain a life again. Cleo, wanting vengeance on BigB, meets Scott on the other side of his wall, Scott giving her some sugarcane. Post-song, Grian, Joel and Cleo express their desire to gain lives back from Scar.

18. “Their Will”: Martyn relays the aims of the Voice, which he now interprets as the Moon, to the rest of the Shadow Alliance, who agree with it.

19. “Die For Me”: In the meeting, Martyn asks if there’s anything recent he should know about the Fairy Fort. They tell him the Fairy Fort has burned down at the hands of Cleo, relaying the tale as a flashback.

20. “Promises”/“Coal Mine”: Martyn chases Jimmy, who’s stolen his life in the Southlands life-passing ritual, spurred on by the Voice. He lies to Jimmy, telling him they can run away from the Southlands together if he gives him back his life. Jimmy expresses his worry about potentially being the first out again in the process, as this has happened before and he is very vulnerable as a Yellow, and agrees. Martyn runs back with his life straight after.

21. “The Wizard On The Mountain/The Trial of Timmy”: a Yellow Grian rejoins the Southlands, telling them (especially Martyn, as he did not know when this happened due to his absences) how he got a life back from Scar, who’s now Yellow himself. He finds out about what happened with Jimmy, and the Southlands hold a trial about whether he should be exiled or stay in. They will anonymously vote their verdict in a book, Grian campaigning for Jimmy to leave, while the others, minus Martyn, campaign for him to stay. When it is time for them to vote, Martyn votes him in. The Voice is angry at Martyn, asking him why he’s still attached to the Southlands when he wishes to join the Shadow, appearing to him and telling him a demonstration is in order... “Lights extinguish/Begin the Slaughter/Our Will Be Done!”

22. “Red, Crimson, Gold (Reprise 2)”: Grian manages to get his three skulls, but as he’s distracted by this aim, the other members of the South fall to boogeymen, of which there are six of this session, due to the Voice’s promise. Impulse falls to Yellow at Scott’s hands, and Mumbo and Jimmy both become Red, along with many other players on the server, including Lizzie and once more, Joel.

23. “A(ha)lliances (Reprise 2)”: Grian, Impulse, Martyn find south blown up by Mumbo, and burn the walls in commemoration. Grian and Martyn don't trust each other, while Impulse doesn't want his loyalty to be doubted (as the only one fully on board with the alliance). Meanwhile, the alliance between Scott, Pearl, Cleo strengthens, and Etho and Bdubs discover their wither skull missing. Impulse turns Red.

24. “When Will You Learn?”: Heading back to the Southlands, Grian and Martyn meet Jimmy and Mumbo, who attack them. Grian kills them both, to Martyn’s shock, and, shocked himself, tries to defend his actions. All of a sudden, the Voice appears again and a Boogeyman curse strikes Martyn. Prompted by the Voice (seeming to have a specific hatred of Grian) and by vengeance for Mumbo and Jimmy, Martyn immediately moves to kill Grian. He succeeds, but the kill is attributed to Joel, who has sniped him. Exhausted, Martyn managed to kill Tango. When called to another Shadow meeting, he returns to his empty Southlands tower instead.

25. “Unnamed Wither Song (Proper)”: The Wither is raised by Grian and Impulse in Team BEST’s base. Etho wants to run, but Bdubs attacks it, giving him the courage to attack too – however, Bdubs loses a life to it, turning Red once more. The remaining Greens and Yellows flock to fight it as the Reds join in, trying to kill the other players. The Wither is defeated by Etho; Impulse falls to Scott’s hand, dying permanently; Bdubs takes Lizzie’s final life as he was promised a life in exchange for killing a Red; he is shot by Grian as he runs to Etho to inform him of this.

26. Unnamed Song: In the aftermath, Etho mourns BDubs’ death, while Ren mourns his failure to protect his Shadow Queen, even if she was Red.

27. “Our Will Be Done”: Waking up all alone, Martyn hallucinates his dead friends, thinking about how even when he tried not, to he STILL got attached, how he's only a follower of the Voice (just like he was just a follower of Ren back in 3rd Life). He questions the Voice/Watchers, finally snapping at the,. Why are they speaking to him? Why are they hell-bent on killing Grian? What did he mean? Why does he have to follow it when he wants to do the opposite of what they tell him? Who are they – why should he do anything they say? However, they pacify him, promising that if he does what they say, they will bring Impulse, Mumbo and Jimmy back. Martyn concedes.

28. “Scott’s Elegy”: Scott, cursed as the Boogeyman once more makes a decision to surrender himself to the curse instead, as he doesn’t want to kill any more allies with so few lives left in the game.

29. “Boogie Boogie On The Dance Floor”: The Chorus informs us that it is the last day. Pearl is chosen as the Boogeyman, rigging a TNT trap on a disco floor, turning Ren’s red. The others quickly fall to the Reds, including Cleo.

30. “Martyn’s Stand”: Now left as the last Yellow, Martyn decides he is tired of hiding, deciding to finally take his fate into his own hands and make a last stand against everyone, heading to a mountain and pouring lava down the sides as a beacon for the Reds. However, though he puts up a good fight, he doesn’t manage to take any of them down before dying himself, marking the server entirely Red.

31. “Battle Royale”: With the Reds having turned on each other, the four survivors – Pearl, Scott, Ren and Martyn – agree to a Battle Royale to decide the victor. Pearl dies early on, prompting Scott to grieve and resolve to win this fight, no matter what it takes. Martyn eventually falls to his own End Crystal. Only Scott and Ren are left, and they fight to the voices of dead players telling them to play the game. After a long fight, Scott manages to kill Ren, partially due to a zombie which he interprets as the world maybe doing something after all for his defiance. He is crowned the winner. However, the Voice does not like this, the Chorus supporting this, and Scott is stricken dead with heavenly lightning.

32. “Plainly Spoken [Epilogue]”: All is silence, and yet Martyn opens his eyes once more, to the Voice and the Chorus, now joined as they are the same entity, informing him how disappointed they are in him, and that he is heading closer and closer to the light. As he asks questions, he is cut off, and they say he will forget all that has happened with them as he and everyone else moves into the next game. Up above, the land is now in the state it was at the start of “Middle of Nowhere”, and they are revealed to be those that run the death loop.

#last life smp #llsmp #trafficblr #the life series #last life: the (very unofficial) musical #martyn inthelittlewood #scott smajor #dangthatsalongname #smajor1995 #grian #<-- tagging due to narrative importance (i won't tag everyone don't worry)#3rd life smp #last life info #pinned post

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