#rat lihn

[cindyslesbian]

wrote a little something something, part 2 coming soon!!

[richie-shitlips]

cast the moots in lihn 🤨

win okay so

disclaimer: this is purely on vibes this show couldn't really be blind cast, race is important in a real production

Susannah Sonn - @cheefdae i don't have reasons. useless lesbians /aff

Sheila Nail - ME

Kitty Minx - @sashathegirliepop i don't know you very well but!! yeah!! girlbosses for the win!!

Dorothy Donaldson - @loganschwarzy duh

Judith Ramone - @perseus-was-sadly-taken yeah

Rat Ratowski - @chompisatheatrekid in the original production (not the one we watched) rat bit dorothy

Ya-Ya Meeks - @jump-into-a-pit-of-chickens silly

Miss Asp/Harriet - @isopodonanescalator you're the only one i will ever trust with her other than lauren marcus

Francis/Buzz/Doc Shock - you linc. yeah. i just think you'd eat. you should cover Francis's Song it'd be funny

[thelivingjoke]

Hi! You know the rat dancing video? Do you know the song?

Heya! The song is See Tình by Hoang Thuy Lihn, a Vietnamese artist. The version in the cute and hilarious rat video is the Cucak remix version, if you got Spotify it can be found easily by searching for her ^^

Sorry if I answered too slow, typically the asks I get are weird and likely of bot origins lol. Hope it helped ^^

[thesquirrelqueer]

happy valentine’s day garbage girls

[torishasupremacy]

total drama lihn au

gonna post art of it soon (and it’s super niche) but here’s the cast for my total drama love in hate nation au. everyone go listen to love in hate nation songs on youtube because they’re fucking incredible. also there are lesbians. and the goddess that is emerson mae smith. im pretty sure there’s a bootleg but i haven’t watched it yet.

Susannah Son - Courtney Son (she has a violin instead of ukulele)

Sheila Nail - Gwen Nail

Gloria “Ya Ya” Meeks - Izzy “E-Scope” Meeks (yaya wears green and likes to blow stuff up. so does izzy. its perfect)

Brenda “Rat” Ratowski - Kitty “Kit” Ratowski

Miss Asp - Miss Blaineley (blaineley would just be hilarious in the role of miss asp)

Dorothy Donaldson - Jen Donaldson (jen needs more screen time!!)

Kitty Minx - Leshawna Minx (let leshawna be a powerful trans woman)

Judith Ramone - Eva Ramone 

Harriet - Lindsay (rip)

idk what to do for the guy’s parts, scott will probably be the shitty boyfriend and maybe chris can be doc shock? im getting obsessed with love in hate nation again and its colliding with my total drama obsession. and this is the weird love child of the two

[unproduciblesmackdown]

lihn asks: 1, 10, 15, 26, 30, 31, 37, 41, 46, 49

thanks for the asks and thanks for creating the ask list in the first place

1) Favorite song(s)? i especially like three failed escape attempts of sheila nail. it does A Lot re: like, introducing a character, but probably the biggest reason it is a fave is b/c It Is A Banger

10) Favorite line(s)? this is a tough one, i've been Thinking on it and there's no immediate standout answer coming to mind for sure......how about "she asked us to, so we did." great stuff

15) A minor character(s) you love? hmm i mean i guess clearly susannah and sheila are the main and next most main characters but from there it's like, is Everyone equally a minor character........well kitty is my favorite of course so i guess that's an easy answer, i also just like immediately enjoyed rat and i wish she had more content even though definitely other girls didn't have a world of Content either

26) Solitary or Masochist? well i think probably solitary Musically, seeing as i def actually remember it more for that reason, but maybe i gotta say masochist b/c a) you know, kitty is the fave, and b) even if i don't remember a ton of details i still enjoyed it and i enjoyed the scene overall a Lot and what role it has in the story / susannah's arc.

30) Scene(s)/concept(s) you would like expanded upon? hmm i do like dorothy and kitty's Thing being like. never really brought to the forefront / made Crucially relevant or anything but it also was not too Apparent at all lmfao although yknow, maybe it was more clear in person. i think i'd like it to have like. at least more Textual implications of the existence of the pairing. s/o to kitty again

31) What you would like changed if another production of the show happens? uhhh i think in its immediate aftermath i was sort of thinking how it's a bit weird that like. sure you can easily take some textual material in lihn and interpret girls as Not Nt informed by that, but clearly the focus is how their response to external societal factors is Pathologized (especially based on their identities, e.g. susannah as a black girl and kitty as a trans girl), and while of course miss asp having this extended breakdown basically over the course of the show lol *is* about her own Attempts To Cope With Society have failed her and are failing her, and she's having Bigger messy reactions as the show goes on as the girls sort of get themselves even more together, it felt like she was being given behaviors that are more like. "cues" that are associated with Mental Disorders like, her thinking the girls could be aliens is sure involved with the Metaphor in that, but from the perspective of her character being fairly earnest in that belief, that's like, More of an interfering Symptom than we've seen from any of the girls........idk like, feels like either her character could become at least Slightly more subtly handled or like, in the same way that the girls are here for different things and yet The Same Thing, it could be made more explicit that one or more of the girls is nd and that Just Might manifest in ways that are seen as going beyond "standard" "weirdness" like yknow. miss asp out here like "yeah she has delusions now" while with the girls it's like. yeah they have "undesirable / inappropriate Behaviors" but, not of that kind

37) Favorite fanmade media related to LIHN?

this fic by soph, this drawing of kitty by al, this drawing of kitty by an artist i know does other nicher iconis-content art, this drawing of kitty talking to susannah by an artist who i know i’ve Appreciated other lihn art from, and your galaxy brain video juxtaposing “i was a teenage delinquent!” with vimh

41) An anecdote about your experience with LIHN? lmao well i don't Personally have any great anecdote i don't think. i watched it along with soph which means i had to keep messaging them like "hang on pause, i'm Buffering again" every 6-13 min or so, and a fun coincidence was that 99% of the time the video paused at a timestamp wherein the Seconds ended in _9. someone else's anecdote: al's story of having gone to an actual lihn performance, having had been made to miss the intended train to the theater and needing to wait for the next one, and ending up sitting right in front of jason sweettooth williams on the ride / getting to make conversation lol. rights

46) Stupidest quote from the NYT review? lmfao fuck you i haven't reread this shit since it came out and it is SO hard to pick a stupidest quote. rereading it now i'm freshly Amazed at how stupid a quote i'd forgotten is. but ofc i Have to go with "...[Susannah]'s very much an everygirl. She is the black child of white adoptive parents, which she knows (ask answer editor's note: "????????? what aspect of this would she Not know"), and a lesbian, which she quickly discovers, but..." like lmaoooo never gets old. alexis soloski, everyone!!!

49) Bruce the Ocelot or Harriet II? well, again, Kitty, and i do like ocelots, they're cool, so: bruce. and it’s a really fun scene where the whole concept is introduced lmao

[less--beans]

lihn asks: 2, 9, 14, 19, 20, 22, 27, 28, 39, 40, 47

2. Fav scenes?

can i just say the whole musical? i really want to just say the whole musical. i’ll not mention any scenes with songs, bc that’s a whole other thing, but i’ll pick a few (i said a few but it’s a lot more than that, i’m very sorry) top scenes. i’m pretty sure most ppl answer this with like 3 scenes but i’ve never been very good at picking so here, have 10. i’m going to make a list bc if i just put it all in a paragraph it would be way too long. 

-i love sheila and susannah’s first actual conversation. it’s funny how nervous and awkward susannah is, and how many questions she asks and weird things she says. i love how sheila just rolls with it, answering her questions and ignoring the weirdness. francis’ little interludes are funny and it makes my heart melt when sheila goes ‘but in the good way,’ especially after seeing that susannah believes francis and everyone else when they tell her she’s weird in the bad way, and i can’t help but die when i remember that sheila is probably the first person who saw how weird susannah was and didn’t insult her or act like it was a bad thing but instead just rolled with it. 

-it’s a short scene but i love when they’re teaching susannah how to smoke and she visualizes francis being torn apart. it’s the funniest thing. so short and yet so good. 

-another short yet awesome scene is right before the other one, when sheila spends a solid 20-30 seconds just staring at susannah and listening to her write songs. very gay. also, in the same scene, sheila listing what she likes and then adding that susannah’s interests weren’t too bad either. her acting like she usually does and just kind of putting down the other person’s interests a little before letting her walls drop and acknowledging susannah as a person was amazing. again with the walls dropped thing is her respecting susannah’s boundaries and not demanding to know who the letter was from. we love character growth. 

-yet another short scene is right before oh well when sheila’s kind of teasing her about the morse code thing and being like ‘you’re obsessed.’ it was hilarious. and then it kind of clicked in their heads with the nonsense syllables and the secret code and it was like they were finally on the same wave length. it was very very sweet. 

- i loved the scene where sheila got taken to solitary. phenomenal acting. my heart broke. i’ve watched it so many times and i love looking at various reactions of the girls (judith being victorious, sheila being hurt and scared and angry, dorothy in shock and still trying to comfort others, ya-ya collasping, kitty being angry and disappointed, rat just watching concerned and scared from the sidelines) as it all goes down. it’s painful and it was such a different ending to act 1 than i thought would happen just two minutes prior, and it’s a majorly emotional scene. 

-in the beginning of act 2, she’s like ‘no, this is my fault!’ and all the girls just agree with her, and then judith tells the history of harriet. i did not see her backstory coming at all. that part made me physically sick and very horrified. i didn’t necessarily like that scene, but i respect it bc of the acting, and the effect it had on me is proof that it was good. also, when kitty comes from judith and reveals that sheila took out her eye? that was the second huge revelation in the same scene and i had to pause it to process. plus, that was a sick burn. go kitty.

-the scene with kitty and susannah before masochist!! powerful, emotional, had me in tears. I adore kitty so much. some real stuff was said there, and i, as someone who is part of the lgbtq+ community, was really affected by that scene. also masochist, but again, we’re not going into songs right now. that’s a whole other thing. 

-i died when the music was building up and susannah was on the steps and she was giving her whole rousing speech and she finally admitted that she loved sheila. the music stopped, susannah stopped, my heart stopped, and the girls gave a wonderfully funny fake gasp. the girls’ reactions in that scene were impeccable and so hilarious to me, and there’s of course the fact that susannah, after stumbling over her words and feelings the entire show, finally admitted out loud that she loved sheila. not only that, but she did it in front of everyone. very big character growth, plus the growth of my heart as it swelled and burst in my chest. i loved it. 

-the transition of judith being like ‘there’s no way she just thinks the plumbing sucks’ to sheila loudly complaining about her hatred of the sucky plumbing was perfect. also, i can’t watch sheila’s slow realization of what’s happening without laughing. she’s such an idiot and i love her. her slamming her head into the pillow and slowly raising it up again as it sinks in? comedic genius. just the parallels of susannah being like ‘she’ll figure it out soon’ at the exact same moment sheila figures it out is amazing. judith going ‘i will happily eat my own sh-’ and then being cut off by sheila knocking back was hilarious, and kitty’s ‘do you want fries with that judith?’ was so iconic. 

-them being like ‘how are we going to do this??’ in the middle of the song and everything going dark and quiet for a few seconds other than that sign of ‘four minutes and 38 seconds later’ before going ‘that’s a great plan’ was so freaking funny. we’re going to skip the moment where sheila and susannah reunite for now bc i’m probably going to make another post about it and this post is already so long. also, i love how they outlined the plan as they put it into action. it was poetic cinema. perfect execution of one of my fav tropes and i really enjoyed it. 

9. Fav lighting moments?

I love the beginning transition where the lights flash and show the silhouettes of the girls, it’s so powerful. I also love the emphasis the lighting gives when it changes in the pre-reprise of teenage delinquent and also in susannah’s song reprise (basically whenever everything stops and susannah has a gay moment). the lights shining through the smoke to give the illusion of fire? amazing. that was exactly what the scene needed to take it from incredible to literal perfection. on that note, i liked the ghostly feel the lights gave as they shone through the windows once the girls were outside. lastly, i loved the lights in the end of teenage delinquent. that was a very emotional moment and the lights just added to it. 

14. A major(s) character you love?

I love sheila a lot. she’s so tough and yet so sweet. i first met her and i was kind of worried about if she was going to be one of the stereotypical mean tough girls, but she managed to be strong and kind, and it’s amazing. i love how she’s a little aloof and yet totally willing to take down anyone who hurts the people she cares about. she fights asp, buzz, and even judith, all bc they hurt her family. plus, that girl’s been through a lot. i’ve made a few other posts just based on what i got from the three failed escape attempts but i really feel sad for her and all that she’s been through. 

19. Fav (pre)reprise?

So we obviously have the oh well reprise when susannah is delivering the esp to sheila and that’s such an amazing one that always gets me. i’ve cried a lot at that scene. sheila smiling and trying to hide it while half-heartedly trying to get susannah to stop playing by warning her that she would get in trouble... ugh. my heart. another one that i really like, however, is when sheila and susannah first met. the pre-reprise of teenage delinquent gets me almost as much as the oh well reprise does. it’s so short, only a few lines, but we see susannah immediately fall for her. it’s so sweet and it sets everything up so perfectly, and i especially love the percussion. in the last line the drums kick in and crescendo and it’s just a masterpiece. 

20. Headcanon(s) for what happens before the show?

i’m very sorry to announce that i forgot who the creator of this (if anyone knows please message me!) but some created this amazing timeline. it’s phenomenal. i’ve pretty much accepted everything on that list as canon. 

22. Headcanon(s) for what happens between Teenage Delinquent and Finale?

judith definitely became a chill therapist. 100%. she keeps in touch with ya-ya and they try to arrange meetings every now and then. sometimes they see certain plays together. ya-ya went to hollywood with dorothy. she made it big in special effects, and dorothy prefers to act in smaller gigs in underground places. ya-ya helps out with dorothy’s plays sometimes. they share an apartment together. sometimes dorothy sees rat in the audience of her shows. she doesn’t question how rat knew where she’d be performing and she doesn’t question the money and cigarettes that are pushed into her hands after. she also doesn’t question it if rat ever shows up in need to stay for a few days. it happens every few months, and dorothy just makes sure there’s good food in the house and slips some money into rat’s things when she’s sleeping. kitty keeps in touch with susannah, and she attends all of susannah’s performances she can. susannah goes on tour with her band, and she could’ve sworn in their tour in hollywood she saw three familiar faces in the crowd. she’ll never know for sure though. sheila stays in mexico for a while before deciding to go back to the states. she doesn’t know what happened to francis. at the border she told him he was lucky she didn’t kill him and left on his bike, never to see him again. she traveled around the us with that bike, eventually deciding to visit hollywood. she saw a familiar name in an underground club and immediately went to the next showing available, watching with barely held back tears as dorothy starred in a play. she saw rat in the audience and ya-ya’s name credited in special effects, and she had to leave at intermission to keep herself together. she wasn’t sure how to approach them or what she would do or say, so she took off that night to keep the temptation away. she went all the way across the country to nyc, figuring it was about time she visited some old friends from mexico. she walked into a record shop to ask for directions and caught a thief stealing from the store a few minutes later. she walked in to return the record.

27. Teenage Delinquent or Revolution Song?

how am i supposed to choose?? from the moment i heard teenage delinquent pre-reprise i loved both versions. it’s such a pretty tune, and it’s so meaningful, and the emotion in it is so powerful. it makes me cry every time, and the end... wow. they’re gay and in love and i get very emotional about it. i absolutely love teenage delinquent. revolution song, however, was one of the first ones i ever heard and probably the one that made me watch the show. it’s so energetic and so great, and i cannot listen to it without wanting to start my own rebellion and take down some terrible patriarchal system. it’s constantly in my head and it’s so catchy and fun. plus, i love watching it in the show, and the girls throwing things and burning down the building is one of my fav things. i love both of these songs so much and i physically can’t choose which one is my favorite. 

28. Something you like/have noticed about the show that you haven’t seen anyone else mention yet?

both of these things are only briefly mentioned in the show but i’ve still never seen anyone talk about them. this show takes place over the span of only 17 days (excluding the finale, obviously). in the beginning, when susannah had just arrived, asp got the call about the interview and she mentioned it being in 17 days. a lot happened in 17 days, especially since they were locked up for 8 of them. all of the events of act 1 took place over 9 days at most, and probably less, bc we know sheila didn’t respond right away in solitary and we’re not sure of how much time passed until she did. that feels like such a short time span to me. another thing is that they’re on the fifth floor. i don’t know why this stood out to me, but it’s probably something to do with the fire. they would have lit the fire and gotten out really quickly. i feel like imagining them on the first or second floor is different than imagining them on the fifth floor for some reason, and i just felt like pointing it out. 

39. What got you interested in LIHN?

I was bored in between classes and so i watched a random youtube video of musical clips. there were three clips of lihn in there, and they interested me enough that i watched the entire musical a few days later. i immediately fell in love and i’ve watched it almost every day since. 

40. What does LIHN mean to you?

love in hate nation means so much to me. i absolutely love this show. there’s so much to think about and so much to build on. musicals are amazing bc there’s choreography and lighting and lyrics and sets and so many things with hundreds of little hidden messages, and deciphering potential meanings for those messages is so fun. this show is no different. there’s so many things to analyse, and it’s such a good show that i want to analyse everything about it. i can’t put into words how much i love this show. just know it’s a lot.

47. A single wish for the future of the show?

it says a single wish, but i have three, so i’m going to list them all. if i could only have one it would for sure be the first one. first and foremost, i want a cast album. goodness gracious, i want a cast album. so bad. second, i really want this to get to broadway. more people need to know about this show. it’s so good and it’s worth everything. i want this to get big. third, i believe joe posted something about a potential proshoot? i could be wrong but that would be amazing to have.

my grammar is terrible and this is so much longer than it should’ve been, so i’m sorry about that. thank you so much for asking!! it was really fun to answer these. if anyone wants to ask more questions, the link to the asks is here

[nothingunrealistic]

joe iconis has several lihn-related inspiration playlists, mostly for specific characters, on his spotify. here are links to them!

susannah

sheila

judith

dorothy

rat

kitty

ya-ya

miss asp

francis / buzz

“hits of nation and beyond”

[susandsnell]

kitty minx for the character breakdown!

Ahhh, thank you hon!! 

GIVE ME A CHARACTER and I’ll break their ass down:

How I feel about this character: Kitty took me completely by surprise getting into Love in Hate Nation. I adored her almost instantly; Emerson Mae Smith has such a stage presence and charisma it’s impossible not to, and I swear Joe gave her every single iconic, hilarious line both the book and the show have to offer. If I think too much about her I actually get extremely emotional. The fact that aside from Sheila, she’s easily the kindest of the girls to Susannah immediately tugged at my heart; as outrageous as she is, even her pushier behaviours, such as surprise-announcing her and pressuring her to sing for the girls is wildly important to who she is, who’s someone who not only lives her truth, but wants others to let go of their repression as well. It was her way of being warm and encouraging. She’s the Cool Big Sis trope incarnate, endlessly patient with the other girls’ antics while also taking no shit from them, and coping with the horrid conditions in Nation with a sly sense of humour and a fashionable flair I admire so, so much. Then comes Act 2 and I really can’t think of Masochist without crying -- her sense of justice and her ability to quickly forgive speaks to how intelligent she is, recognizing, even as she’s mistreated by the other girls, that they’re all striking out at each other because the system relies on it to keep them powerless and to keep them from rising up. She’s hilarious, she’s admirable, and from what little we know of her, she’s been through absolute and total hell and manages to not only keep her head up, but to use what she’s learned to deal with her pain to inspire others. To me, Kitty really is the heart of the solidarity narrative;  beyond that, she’s hilarious and fierce and owns every inch of herself. However, the brilliance in her is that she’s not just a cardboard cutout fairy godmother character to guide Susannah in embracing her identity; she’s flawed, she’s angry, she’s uncertain, and she’s above all still a teen. As a cis person, it’s not for me to say whether or not she’s good trans rep, but she’s a fantastic character overall and I would fight for her. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Dorothy and Rat, most probably! Especially because of their cute little interactions in the backgrounds of scenes and their playful roughhousing during Masochist. I think that while it’s important she and Judith reconcile, I can’t really be down with them ever getting together (especially because of the deadnaming during Solitary), and her dynamic with Ya-Ya, who comes off as the baby of the group (see my headcanons doc, lol), seems more like a sisterly thing  than anything else. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Susannah, Susannah, Susannah, Susannah, Susannah. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and actually say that Susannah and Kitty’s relationship is second only to the Susannah/Sheila relationship as by far the most important one in the show in how it drives both the plot and the character growth. I can’t begin to describe how important and healing it was to watch Kitty playfully try to draw Susannah from her shell; how meeting another LGBT+ person was so instrumental to Susannah’s shift as a person. Every time Kitty goes out of her way to be nice to Susannah or tries to make her feel included where the other girls tend to pick on her (even if it’s meant in good fun, it’s still clearly hurtful), my heart just soars. The two clearly admire and appreciate one another, and inspire the best out of each other. The fact that after Susannah’s mistake she shows her the kind of healing forgiveness a person needs is incredible; that she uses her experience as a trans girl to get Susannah to embrace her black lesbian identity is pretty much life-changing. Like, when Susannah calls the girls “her family” in Revolution Song, of any two people, I absolutely believe it of her and Kitty. Their bond represents the found family dynamic so many people find within the LGBT+ community through shared experiences and struggles, and it’s one of the most beautiful friendships I’ve ever seen in a musical.   

My unpopular opinion about this character: Are there any LIHN unpopular opinions??? There’s like twelve of us here, six of whom make content lmao. I can’t really think of one to date; everyone seems to love Kitty across the board, and rightfully so.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she had more scenes interacting with Sheila! I feel like they’re pretty close, too. Also, of course I’d have loved to know what became of her after the prison break. 

[neverheardnothing]

Love In Hate Nation - a new musical by Joe Iconis

Intro

Hey, y’all, wonder what our favorite Tony nominated composer is up to these days? Well, a lot. He has 3 upcoming musicals, but we’re gonna talk about one in particular, his next one. It’s called Love In Hate Nation, for which he is writing the music, lyrics, and book.

Here’s the description from Joe’s website:

A turbulent rock romance set in a 1960s Juvie Hall, Love in Hate Nation uses classic “bad girl” movies as the inspiration for the story of young people caught between eras of a changing America. Sixteen-year old Susannah Son is carted off to the National Reformatory for Girls to get her head put on straight. There she meets the aggressively incorrigible Sheila Nail, and a relationship forms which leads to an all-out “revolution in the institution” as they attempt to break out of the boxes society has created around them. Girl Group Wall of Sound harmonies are filtered through a punk rock spirit in this rebellious and romantic new musical.

The show will make its world premiere at Two River Theater in New Jersey (the place where BMC started!) and will run from November 9th to December 1st 2019. 

TICKETS ARE CURRENTLY ON SALE! CHECK OUT THE LINK ABOVE!

Cast/Creatives

The cast will feature Sydney Farley (Gloria “Ya Ya” Meeks), Amina Faye (Susannah Son), Jasmine Forsberg (Brenda “Rat” Ratowski), Lauren Marcus (Miss Asp), Kelly McIntyre (Sheila Nail), Lena Skeele (Dorothy Donaldson), Emerson Smith (Kitty Minx), Ryan Vona (The Guy), and Tatiana Wechsler (Judith Ramone).

The rest of the creative/design team includes: scenic designer Meredith Reis, costume designer Karen Perry, lighting designer Jen Schriever, and sound designer Palmer Hefferan. Orchestrations and music supervision are by Charlie Rosen, with music direction by Geraldine Anello, and choreography by Mayte Natalio.

Although this is its world premiere, there actually was a previous production of this show in 2018 by Penn State’s musical theater program (where John Simpkins works), who originally commissioned Joe to write the show. The cast included Amina Faye, Katie Griffith, Talia Suskauer (a swing in BMC!), Lena Skeele, Jasmine Forsberg (cast member of Broadway Bounty Hunter), Morgan Hecker, MiKayla McKasey, Caleb Smith, and Kevin Dort. Amina, Lena, and Jasmine will be reprising their roles. 

Press/Reviews

Jennifer Ashley Tepper wrote a review of the 2018 production on her Facebook, which has some information about the characters.

Review from The Theater Times

Review from Sun Gazette

Review from PSU Underground

About the initial development of LIHN

Songs

If you want to hear what we currently have from the shows, I’ve made a YouTube playlist of all the videos I’ve found. It contains some songs, scenes, and interviews.

Since there’s a lot of duplicates, I’ve linked my favorite of each version here:

I Hope

Three Failed Escape Attempts of Sheila Nail

Revolution Song

I Was A Teenage Delinquent (this song was actually written way before the show was commissioned!)

Susannah’s Song

Generally Rebellious

Lovelier

Revolution Song (which is my favorite). Featuring Rachel Lee, Alexandra Ferrara, and Danielle Gimbal at an Iconis and Family concert.

But if you only listen to one of these, listen to Three Failed Escape Attempts of Sheila Nail. It’s an incredible song and an incredible performance which speaks for itself. Go, watch it. I beg you.

Three Failed Escape Attempts of Sheila Nail sung by Talia Suskauer at the Be More Swing show.

Pictures

And now here’s some pictures from the 2018 Penn State production below the cut if you want to see what it looked it!

Amina Faye as Susannah Son

Amina Faye as Susannah Son and Talia Suskauer as Miss Asp

Katie Griffith as Sheila Nail and Amina Faye as Susannah Son

Talia Suskauer as Miss Asp and Lena Skeele as Dorothy

Morgan Hecker, Caleb Smith, Jasmine, Mikayla McKasy, Lena Skeele, and Katie Griffith

[smilesandsarcasm12]

Lihn ask: headcanons for what happens in the intervening years between teenage delinquent and finale with any/all of the characters?

So in my dream, the garbage girls set up their own girls shelter. Dorothy teaches cooking. Ya-Ya teaches science. Rat teaches Gym. Kitty teaches like makeup for girls who want it. Judith is the firm but kind principal because she knows how important it is to have someone on your team. They form another kind of family with all of these young girls where everyone is free to be who they want.

I think Sussanah performs, she breaks every stereotype in the books. She helps little girls be who they truly are. She hears about the garbage girls new place and comes back often, teaching music history and songwriting and giving the girls private concerts where they get to share their own work.

I think Shelia lives, quietly, alone. I think she watches the world change around her and wishes she could tell Sussanah. She keeps lists of things like “joke si would’ve made if she saw this” “song I think she should listen to” they’re stuffed in a box somewhere, sometimes she goes back and reads them. She’s content, but lonely

Until that day in the 80s in a little record shop in New York

[richie-shitlips]

HEY YOU YOU RBED MY POST

and now you are legally required to give my your thoughts on RICKY POTTS

(Also have u ever thought about how similar Ricky rtc and Richie npmd are?)

i actually have!! me and my friend did a cover of space age bachelor man as richie and ruth, but it's a really shitty recording, so maybe we'll post a higher quality one at some point :)

my thoughts on ricky mostly come from my friend logan, who is the ricky of the group. but uhh. that kid is so trans you can tell if they're transmasc or transfem. they just are.

some headcanons:

personally i'm a savannah potts she/they/it truther. it's my special girl. genderqueer

she draws comics about the bachelor man

lemon demon, david bowie, and they might be giants enjoyer

in fact, here's their playlist:

its favorite musicals are love in hate nation, the lightning thief, and cats. runner up is spies are forever. #1 kitty minx (from lihn) fan.

AUDHD and GAD

knows ASL and LSQ, gets mad at noel and ocean when they don't know what she's saying (noel is learning french and can't process more languages, ocean wasn't immediately good at signing so she quit after two weeks)

is pansexual and has had a crush on every member of the choir at some point

it's obsessed with the mad scientist type character, always. (example: barb from saf, ya-ya from lihn, that's all i can think of rn)

their favourite shirt:

some stuff not specifically about ricky but i have the opportunity to share them so i will:

these are some clips from mine and logans chatfic that we published two chapters of and forgot about. rat king is ezra, communal mom is constance, and pencil is penny. i think the rest is easy to figure out.

characters as albums i like:

ocean - the family jewels by marina

noel - from under the cork tree by fall out boy

mischa - mania by fall out boy

ricky - hesitant alien by gerard way or save rock and roll by fall out boy

penny - speak now (taylor's version) by taylor swift

constance - paramore

ezra - folie à deux by fall out boy

and the theme songs i have for them in my brain!

ocean - matilda by harry styles

noel - i/me/myself by will wood

mischa - the mighty fall by fall out boy

ricky - save rock and roll by fall out boy

penny - bill watterson by lemon demon

jane - wonderland by taylor swift

constance - tell me its okay by paramore

ezra - basket case by green day

tammy - mad at god by sarah saint james

well, if you're still reading this, thanks! this was a lot more than what you asked for, but i enjoy rambling about this musical so im gonna ramble. :)

[forty-whacks]

hey so i really want to listen to love in hate nation because it sounds really good but i’m really bad at figuring out the plot of musicals from their soundtracks (i didn’t realize that lizzie had poisoned the milk at their house until like the 6th listen to the soundtrack). could you please explain the plot? i totally understand if you don’t want to spend yr time on this however. ty!

I do happen to have a video lihn boot if you’d like that????

But off the top of my head (this is super quick and inaccurate because I don’t have a functioning memory-

Sussanah who’s our super rad main character get’s sent to Juvie cause she tries to kill herself her adoptive parents are like cba with this shit bye. That’s basically explained in Sussanah’s song which is a tune. Also her annoying bf Francis is all “I’m gonna save you it’ll be chill”

So she gets to Nation and she brings her ukulele cause it’s neat and she meets Miss Asp who’s a bitch and Miss Asp is like no uke for you and she cuts the strings. Also Sussanah has a stutter and that’s a thing. So she meets the squad and here’s an outline of those first impressions:

Judith- A bitch, she’s like the scary top dog who’s ready to fight al the time

Kitty- Legit everyone loves her because she’s just great. She’s in nation cause she’s trans and it’s the 60s and her dad is rich and he was like no thanks.

Ya-Ya- Personal fave. Weird Scifi nerd who just wants to be friend and has a doll that may or may not be possessed.

Dorothy- Fucking QUEEN. She’s a sweet southern belle or so she says because she’s in nation for conning people with scarily good impressions.

Rat- A badass who likes to steeeaaaal

And then she meets Sheila and everyone love’s Sheila cause Sheila’s super cools n also she likes to escape! Cue 3 failed escape attempts

Now here’s where I stop being able to remember shit.

So she has to get changed and sheila is made to like look after her and they share a moment sorta???

At some point Miss Asp is chosen to do a thing for a magazine which she’s excited about until she finds that they want to do it on one of the black girls so she chooses Susannah so now she gotta make Sussanah is like in top shape for this interview.

Francis comes by and tells them he’s sussanah’s brother so he can visit and he’s like “we gotta get you out” and he proposes I think somewhere in act 1??? And they need an escape plan.

There’s another Sussanah/Sheila moment in the bathroom when they sing The Other ONe and it’s cute as shit basically.

So then Miss Asp is out n the girls are like rager time and they have a party and this is when sussanah and Francis are meant to escape. Sussanah and sheila leave the party to go to Miss Asp’s office to get ukulele strings??? I think??? And sussanah teaches sheila some morse code and they sing oh well and it’s gay.

So they get to the office and they nearly kiss but oh no Miss Asp is back and catches them. Then there’s a fight and wait shit I forgot to explain Harriet. So Harriet used to be in Nation and she dated some piano girl and Miss Asp found out and she got electric shock therapy n Miss Asp was like more please and it killed her. Miss Asp is also her mum and I can’t remember if we know that at this point. That’s why Ya-Ya’s doll is Harriet 2. Also piano girl is dead. Anywhooo back to the plot. Sussanah and Sheila are caught and sussanah’s like it’s sheila’s fault and she get’s taken to solitary and Sussanah is like shit and sings I Hope I think and it’s beautiful and that’s end of act 1 I think.

So act 2 starts with Susannah feeling really bad and everyone being like well you should and they sing Solitary and it’s sad. Then sussanah realises sheila can hear the pipes clanging and they do some morse coding and everyone’s like gotta break sheila out.

BAck to me not remembering the order of anything that happens: Kitty sings Masochist at some point which is a queer anthem about being LGBT and loving it essentially also Miss Asp is having a breakdown and she thinks the girls are aliens and also Judith is a traitor who sells out the other girls in hopes of getting a transfer.

They devise a plan to get sheila out called operation sha la la and at this point I realise maybe Francis didn’t propose til act 2 and there was no escape plan in act 1??? God I should watch this again. Anyway the plan essentially involves sheila pretending to be sick and escaping through the bathroom window to where Francis will pick her up. All the girls use their different skills and band together even Judith at this point I think no wait that’s later oh and Sheila took Judith’s eye out for ratting out Harriet I think you should know that by now.

So they distract asp and the other guard dude while sussanah goes to give sheila the package and be like “btw I like you and I’m sorry”

Shit the magazine! Yeah this all happen’s on magazine day and asp is obsessing over everything being perfect. Sheila escapes and is round back but guard dude BUZZ! I think his name’s buzz! Catches is her and is like nah bro. So now I legit can’t remember shit, this is where revolution song goes yeah?? I’m putting it here anyway. So they’re like we gotta take this place down and they sing revolution song and make plans and they burn the place down. Wait shit no does revolution song happen while they’re making plans to bust sheila out?? Or both?? Anyway Judith has joined the squad and they burn the place down.

Now Sussanah and Sheila sing about how in love they are and Sheila rides off to Mexico with Francis cause she gotta get away.

Cut to the 80s and Sussanah’s is a famous singer and she’s playing in a record shop and Sheila happens to stop by and BAM LOOOOOOVE the end.

So uhhhhhhh someone please correct this. Hope it helped like even a little.

[thesquirrelqueer]

No I AINT shit-for-brains!

[templeofshame]

i probably shouldn’t admit that i was a bit enchanted by the woman playing rat in lihn

but she’s in broadway bounty hunter and i’m a lil excited

[unproduciblesmackdown]

let's get those Multiples Of Four for the lihn asks

Thank Yoy here i gooo

4) Favorite exchange(s)?

i like the conversation when sheila stays behind with susannah while the latter gets changed into the uniform skirt or whichever costume piece lol and susannah is clearly like trying to Fit In as she would with the girls as a whole group re: just sheila but that's not really what sheila herself is about so it's not going anywhere at first. it was very funny when judith just smacks susannah's lunch tray straight down onto the floor rip. and of course i love kitty Addressing susannah leading into masochist

8) Favorite costume(s)?

hmm not great at noticing these details (especially the first time around and in non-hq footage lol) but i Did notice (and appreciate) how all the characters were costumed quite differently in a very Personal Style sort of way, v helpful to characterize them each and help distinguish them earlier on. i did like susannah's costumes a lot with the yellow / purple and patterns and vests and carefully styled hair and her post-timeskip look was fantastic as well

12) Favorite background moment(s)?

again i was pretty focused on the foreground stuff really lol and i don't really remember anything where i was noticing something happening only in the background. but a more Literal background moment, i too really enjoyed the silhouettes of the girls striking poses being projected onto the bg behind susannah at the beginning of the show, very effective and Dramatic

16) Underrated moment(s) in the show? 

i don't think i have a real answer re: what's Underrated mostly b/c i've already seen so much good analysis & appreciation from people about pretty much everything........so a vaguely tangential answer is about wishing it was just a Little more evident that Kitty And Dorothy Have Their Own Thing Going On, which like, yeah maybe it's easier to tell in person watching the show, but......and i Do like that kitty's connection to susannah is so clearly more general than their Relationships (or potential ones / wanting one) b/c of course susannah's dilemma around goes beyond Just the particular forbidden romance with this particular person

i also found judith's character like, nonzero engaging, which is just like i hadn't heard much about her  prior i don't think. not as though she's at all Likeable in the sense of like if you were in the show you would not like this character who is both a bully and a narc but it's still like, good for her eventually realizing the error of her ways even if it'd've been good to realize it Before miss asp made it clear she was only ever intending to use judith, and like, maybe if your snitching on a girl had indirectly led to her death you'd stop narcing on everyone instead of just setting up the same situation again. but at least she comes around and threatens francis and even her awfulness can be funnier than the awfulness of other characters who are being awful

20) Headcanon(s) for what happens before the show?

oof that's tricky since so much stuff in the show is unveiling ppl's Backstory / what's happened prior.....idk i was gonna say i wonder how kitty got makeup kits into nation but maybe they're allowed / it's allowed for her b/c her parents are paying so much. not very exciting

24) The Other One or Oh Well?

did have to confirm which one The Other One is but i guess that one lmfao i just have a great time with sheila going off on those verses and it's fun how it's this playful song about them bonding over being rejected.....the "and i guess i don't know how to feel about it" delivery is v funny. much respect and appreciation for Oh Well though of course

28) Something you like/have noticed about the show that you haven’t seen anyone else mention yet?

i'm not sure there Was much that i noticed that i hadn't heard about prior......tbh i think there were just a few Plot Points i hadn't already heard discussed but they weren't exactly Fun ones so i was like hm yeah i can see why ppl wouldn't necessarily specifically address this for kicks

32) If only one could happen, would you prefer a cast recording or an Off-Broadway run?

i agree w/ p much everyone, gotta love the increased availability of a cast recording.....will be around for more than a few weeks, will cost less to obtain the experience, and around here Who Knows what cast recordings will spark. love how plausible it is that lihn Will get a cast recording, here's hoping

36) Favorite song(s) off the Hits of Nation/character playlists?

seeing as i forgot these playlists exist, f, and i have never heard music i just checked for which songs i know i know off the top of my head lol. s/o to each of the girls having iko iko by the dixie cups on their playlists, guess that's some required listening

[susannah: l.e.s. artistes by santigold], [rat: one way or another by blondie, i got a rocket in my pocket by jimmie lloyd (which i've only partially heard b/c it plays in the bg of a The Iron Giant scene lmao so this only counts like 1/3 of the way)] [kitty: diamonds are a girl's best friend by marilyn monroe, la vie en rose by edith piaf, anthems for a seventeen year old girl by broken social scene] [ya-ya: sugar sugar by the archies] [miss asp: i THINK i've heard "straighten up and fly right" and "if i knew you were comin i'd've baked a cake" but i don't especially wanna look them up and confirm lmao. know "i'm proud to be an american" and "god bless the usa" lol ew. "comfortably numb" by pink floyd and "whatever will be will be" by doris day et al and "my heart will go on" by celine dion] [first of all interesting that francis and buzz share a playlist but i guess really all of the roles by The Guy are pretty functionally similar lol. accentuate the positive by perry cuomo, blowin in the wind by bob dylan, i Think i've heard hang on to your ego by the beach boys but i think i forget how it goes]

40) What does LIHN mean to you? 

hmm well classic iconis content around here with the shows celebrating misfit weirdos and him always trying to write a show about people who usually wouldn't get a show written about them and creating this material for an all-girl show with only one token The Guy and the Lead specifically being a black girl and there being a specifically trans role as well.....love how much people have been enjoying it even as it took me ages to get around to Consuming it myself, and it's been v cool for it to be so like, here's Totally New Material. even prior to me having actually seen it, it was also definitely nice to have This in the wake of august to interrupt the [lying facedown], and again it was fun to even secondhand have ppl having a great time w/ the show and getting to appreciate the Content and Analysis happening hell yea

44) Favorite non show/cabaret performance of a song?

oop i might've only seen the non-show video for "oh well" so guess it wins! fine by me

48) Favorite time Francis was wrong?

it's pretty classic / all-encompassing when he very strongly implies that susannah has no choice but to marry him / no Hope for her Future otherwise