#return to hatchetfield town

[violetheart77]

Totally Real NPMD Spoiler from someone who’s Definitely already watched the Digital Ticket (*trust me guys)

The REAL villain isn’t Max Jägerman, or Blinky or Nibbly or any of the Lords In Black

The true mastermind is

the Problematic Puppy.

[thepunkmuppet]

the possible future of the hatchetfield series: hatchetfield halloween party livestream full rundown

again apologies if someone has already done something like this, but I’m procrastinating doing my coursework and just want to talk about hatchetfield I want everyone to be aware of this exciting stuff that was announced in the stream so here you go:

the next starkid musical to be released will not be in the hatchetfield universe.

the guy who didn’t like musicals will soon be ready to license.

nightmare time 3 was originally planned to be released in the same year as nightmare time 2 and will wrap up the overarching nightmare time stories (which seem to be miss holloway and the foster sisters respectively).

if they did a fourth hatchetfield musical, it would be about miss holloway and her backstory. it is already written. I am very very extremely normal about this fact 😃

there is a possibility of a hatchetfield movie, and workin’ boys was sort of a test for this concept. it would be a slasher murder mystery centering around the hatchetfield community players (zoey chambers and the cast of workin’ girls, possibly also with ruth, hidgens, alice and any other theatre-oriented characters but that part’s just my speculation). the transcription of the teaser description can be found below the nmt descriptions.

ok so here are the transcriptions of the nmt3 episode descriptions:

Story #1: Bottle Imps

Bill Woodward has been chosen to test CCRP’s latest and greatest product; Bottle Imps. These reality-bending buddies will bring their owner the one thing they desire most. When his new imp, Lovely, leads him to his soulmate, Bill decides to use his magical companion to play matchmaker. But to help Charlotte find the man of her dreams, Bill will have to bend the Imp’s rules. Rules he’s been warned, must never be broken…

Story #2: Frankenruth

Desperate to see a naked body, Ruth Fleming and Richie Lipschitz volunteer at the morgue of St. Damien’s Hospital. Their terrible plan becomes exponentially more terrible, when they become unwitting subjects in the experiments of the body-snatching madman, Doctor Laszlo, who claims to have conquered death itself. If Hatchetfield thought Ruth was bad before, then they will cower before the unspeakable horror of… Frankenruth!

Story #3: Becky Barnes Climbed a Tree

Becky Barnes is on top of the world! Not in a literal sense, of course. She’s deathly afraid of heights. After years of struggle, Becky’s life is finally everything she dreamed it would be. She’s engaged to her high school sweetheart, Tom Houston, and the two have a surprise baby on the way! But, as the couple prepare for the arrival of baby Marie, a shadow from Becky’s past returns to haunt them.

Story #4: Devil’s Night

Tim Houston has a crush. Unfortunately, it’s on his older, mature and totally cool babysitter, Grace Chasity, who he fears will never see him as anything but a snot-nosed little kid. But when a devilish maniac with murderous designs on Grace attacks Hatchetfield the night before Halloween, Tim must protect his beloved, or join the killer’s growing body count. It’s another slashing adventure on the night HE came home… Devil’s Night.

Story #5: (long special episode) Miss Holloween

It’s Halloween in Hatchetfield once again, and Miss Holloway is celebrating the same way she’s done for decades, staving off the horrors that go bump in the night. But when Duke gives her an invitation to his wedding, the dejected Miss Holloway begins to chafe under the terms of a contract forged many years ago. She strikes a new bargain, but unfortunately her creditors are known for their tricks, not treats. Just as Miss Holloway gives up her powers in exchange for a mortal life, a monstrous new threat rears its ugly head. As All Hallows Eve descends, and all Hell breaks loose, Miss Holloway must save the town or die trying… for real this time.

Story #6: (long special episode / season finale) Orb Weaver

Lex Foster had a life once. A home. A boyfriend. Now there is only the road, and her sister, and the fear of the men who are hunting them. As Hannah Foster watched Lex sink deeper into despair, she is certain of only three things: Webby is gone. She cannot help them. They are alone. Elsewhere, an old soldier awakens from a catatonic state. Returned from some unimaginable Hell with a mission. He knows that somewhere, two magical girls require immediate evac… then maybe some coffee.

very important: if you want nightmare time 3, WATCH NIGHTMARE TIME 2. BUY A TICKET TO THE LIVESTREAM. SHOW THAT THERE IS LOVE AND DEMAND AND IT’S WORTH THEIR TIME AND MONEY I AM BEGGING YOU

hatchetfield movie: Cast Party Massacre

The Hatchetfield Community Players. You will never find a cattier troupe of two-faced thespians. But when the blood begins to flow at their latest show’s cast party, they must consider: is there a secret murderer in their midst? And more importantly, who amongst them is a good enough actor to pull off such a performance? Can they set aside their petty squabbles and tangled romances, or is it curtains for this ensemble? Who will survive… the Cast Party Massacre!

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

Some thoughts while I'm watching Nerdy Prudes Must Die for the first time:

After the Big Game, something that's been itching my brain for a while came back- Clivesdale. Hatchet Town is reinforcing this, but since Black Friday and Honey Queen the Clivesdale hate has really started to stand out to me. Yes it's a funny gag, but the Hatchetfield disdain for Clivesdale is straight-up cultish. Laura Cunningham (I think was her name?) had lived in Hatchetfield for 15 years, but was entirely excommunicated when it came out that she was from Clivesdale. Keep in mind, she was well-liked enough to be a Honey Queen candidate. Two teenagers are brutally murdered and everyone is more focused on the loss against the Chemists. Even people who hate Hatchetfield like Emma and Ziggy hate Clivesdale more. The general population of Hatchetfield is so feverish. I know that the Wiggly doll riots happened all over the world, but holy SHIT it didn't take any time at all for Hatchetfield to totally cave in on itself!

Here's the other thing that gets me- has anyone ever really left Hatchetfield? Anyone who wanted to?

•Emma Perkins has exactly one life goal- not to die in Hatchetfield. Her entire life had been, up until Jane's death, about getting away from Hatchetfield. She is officially pronounced dead after the explosion at Starlight Theatre, though she survived in Clivesdale Hospital. She only lived for a couple weeks after "dying" in Hatchetfield. She also dies almost immediately after returning to her hometown in the events of Forever and Always. She does not die after the fire at her weed farm, but she is arrested and presumably imprisoned in Hatchetfield.

•Frank Pricely is imprisoned by Sherman Young after his attempted escape.

•Alice Woodward dies in The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals before she can leave for college. In fact, she dies after skipping the bus to Clivesdale

•Lex and Hannah Foster (along with Ethan Greene) have plans to escape Hatchetfield and head to California. All of them die before they can even get past Nantucket bridge.

•Zoey Chambers wants to win Honey Queen for the funds to get out of Hatchetfield. In both Honey Queen and The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals she dies before she has the chance to leave.

•Jonathan Brisby attempts to retrieve Lucy Stockworth from Hatchetfield. Brisby dies in the woods, Lucy disappears in the same woods with the Woolyfoot.

•Jenny and Andy planned to move to Clivesdale, but Jenny dies before she can leave, and by the time Andy becomes Andrew Killgore he's back at CCRP in Hatchetfield. Obviously this is wobbly because of timeline shenanigans, but it's implied that Ted didn't actually cross timelines during the events of Time Bastard, just fucked around in his own a lot.

There's just something. There's something about Hatchetfield. It's like a black hole. If it wants you there, and it does, you always end up there, and it's not likely you'll leave a second time.

Something about the ambient affects of the town absolutely fascinates me, I've been thinking about this stuff for like 5 years and it's not gotten old to me yet

[ghostface-knight]

i'd like to present my concept of nightmare time episodes where every (or almost every) person is played by the same person, inspired by jaime lyn beatty in daddy. here are some ideas:

peter spankoffski is done being at the bottom of the hatchetfield high food chain, and so he seeks out help to become cooler. he comes across ethan green, who, having just been left by his girlfriend lex, decides, "what the hell, i'll mentor this kid on being cool". when ted spankoffski learns that his little brother is hanging out with "that no-good ethan green", he confronts pete about it, perhaps a little too harshly. his intentions are good, but when has anything ever gone the way he meant? ted, like everybody in town, knows about ethan's reputation, and he thinks he'll be a bad influence on pete. he knows that, if anyone can, pete can make it out of hatchetfield, and he doesn't want ethan screwing that up. so he confronts him, and one thing leads to another, and eventually pete storms out in anger. ted knows if he goes after pete immediately, he'll only make things worse, so he decides he'll let him have his moment of teenage rebellion and then reconcile with him after. a few hours later, ted spankoffski, now drinking his problems away, is approached by a mysterious man who has somehow gotten into ted's apartment. wilbur cross, as he introduces himself, half-convinces and half-mind controls ted into believing that ethan is responsible for this, and the only way to protect pete is to kill ethan. he storms into ethan's tiny basement apartment, wielding his now shattered bottle of booze, and prepared to rip him limb from limb with his new super-powered companion. ethan can hold his own, though, and the brawl is a tough match. eventually, though, ethan manages to get the remaining shard of the bottle and shove it straight through ted's chest. as this happens, pete comes out of ethan's bathroom, revealing that he'd gone to ethan for comfort after his fight with ted. ted bleeds out on ethan's floor as pete holds him.

ruth fleming has graduated high school, and she's lucky enough to find a super chill job as a farmhand on the farm of emma perkins. one day, as they do their usual work (which isn't much, to be honest), they are approached by linda monroe, who is all but seething. she's goes on about how drugs are evil and she will not raise her children in a town where such depravity is taking place. they threaten her off the property, and they think that'll be over and done with. it's not like they've never had to deal with moralistic creeps like her before, and they've always come out the other side. linda comes back the next day with a petition signed by just about every member of the hatchetfield boating society. yeah whatever, perky's buds is not going to be dismantled by some stupid rich people who think they have more power than they do. in the midst of this, they've recently recieved a new client: 17 year old hannah foster. a quiet kid from hatchetfield high, who seems to have joined the smoke club as a way to make some friends. emma and ruth don't think much of it -- neither of them have any qualms about selling to teenagers, and business is business. however, hannah keeps coming back for more and more, and ruth starts to wonder if there's something else going on. back in the linda plot, linda has taken to bringing people out to the farm to protest. each day she (or, more accurately, the people she's hired) come with more and more people holding cardboard signs and chanting. it's really starting to get on emma's nerves. one day, while hannah is picking up her purchase, linda, surrounded by a mob of angry parents and hatchetfield adults, returns. suddenly, linda no longer seems like a nuisance, but a legitimate threat. her followers carry weapons and the menacing smile on her face tells emma and ruth that she isn't messing around. as the mob breaks through the door of the farm house, emma and ruth urge hannah to look for shelter. hannah refuses though, and emma swears her eyes begin to gleam almost inhumanly. the mob makes it to them, and are suddenly thrown back by a wave of psychic energy so powerful it shatters the walls of the house. hannah's new powers (on account of the weed) leave emma, ruth, and herself standing unharmed in the middle of a surrounding pile of groaning, injured people.

i have a few other concepts, but this is getting super long so i better leave it here for now lmao

[scienceandstorytelling]

I can’t stop thinking about Will Branner’s performance as Max Jägerman and how it leads to my favorite usage of the Nightmare Time leitmotif in all the Hatchetfield musicals (and why I voted for NPMD as having my favorite title number in the poll I made a while back).

Max is a well-written character who already gives me hints of a tragic villain vibe, and then Will’s performance just fleshes that out tenfold. It features the duality Starkid has been playing a lot with in this series, where you’re sympathetic towards a character while also acknowledging the terrible things they do. Max is horrible and abusive towards his classmates and has given them years of trauma. But a teenage boy does not become a Literal Monster in a vacuum.

Alongside his role as a bully, the script gives us images of Max as someone who is struggling academically and would have probably fallen through the cracks if adults didn’t idolize him for his football prowess so they can live vicariously through him as he beats the rival town in the big game. We find out that he has a shitty dad who verbally abuses him for not being macho enough. That he probably doesn’t have all the sex people say he does. That the people he bullies hate-pranking him in revenge is “the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for [him].” And then Will’s acting keeps showing us glimpses of this goofier side of Max, glimpses of the person he might have been if he wasn’t such a bully.

And for those few moments in the aftermath of the prank, you think maybe he’s going to change now that someone has shown him what he perceives to be kindness. And then he falls through the floor and that opportunity is lost. But unlike what Mayor Lauter implies, I would argue that his fate isn’t fully sealed when he dies in the Waylon House. I think the moment of no return is when he kills Richie while the leitmotif plays.

Lots of people ship Max and Richie and have headcanons that they used to be friends, and I think it’s because of the parallels between them in this song. Here we have two 18 year old boys who have both been failed by the adults around them. Both are harmed by being stereotyped. Both are in the liminal social role of being in the process of stepping out of childhood and into living their adult lives after high school. And both of them are denied those adult lives. And then they fucking sing about it. The “will you pray for me” duet is such a powerful part of the song for many reasons, and I think it’s the moment that shows us that Max is still in the process of committing to being nothing more than a vengeful spirit, or at the very least is in the last stage of that process. The thing that strikes me the most is that Max is simultaneously trying to make Richie feel insignificant and alone while also projecting his own feelings onto him. “Is this the eternal dark without a dawn?” he asks, reaching up to the sky and not looking at Richie at all.

And what fucks me up is that Max fails in this moment. Richie is not alone. He never was, and now he’s even less alone. Not only will Pete and Ruth mourn him, so will Max’s former friends. Its so notable to me that this takes place immediately after Go Go Nighthawks, where we’ve just seen everyone, including, again, Max’s “friends,” sing about how great it is that he’s gone. It’s a real Ebeneezer Scrooge moment that makes me wonder if Max has been silently haunting the school these weeks since his death and it’s only now, having watched that, that he tips over into full villain mode. Max is the one with no one to pray for him, not Richie. And Richie basically says as much, and Max kills him anyway. Richie was doomed from the start in the sense that the show literally opens with a flashforward to his death, but I think Max is doomed too. “Don’t need no one to tell me high school will be my peak,” he says in his own introductory song. I said before how they’re both on the cusp of living their whole adult lives, but I wonder if Max had trouble seeing himself that way. He already didn’t think he would amount to anything after high school. A lot of these “peaked in high school” football star characters spend their adult lives being metaphorically stuck in high school, in their teenage years, because they can’t let themselves move on from their glory days. And here Max is, literally stuck in his teenage years forever as a ghost - but not literally stuck in high school, as we see when he follows them all to the Witchwood. When he makes he grand ghostly return he says to Richie, “I’m free!” (Free from what, Max?) He certainly has the freedom of a ghost to go anywhere and do anything. And yet he traps himself in high school. He prevents himself from moving forward. And all of that is why it makes me emotional every time when he casts aside any last chance of not being the villain and strikes the first blow on Richie, these two teenagers failed by the adults and the structures around them, their fates locked together, while the leitmotif plays and takes us back to that original line from Alice’s corpse singing to Bill about how he should have been a better father: Look what happens, nightmare time.

[fridgrave2-0]

im having a vision

au where max dies because of his father and still returns as a ghost but now he kills shitty parents (including the mayor 🥳) across the town. the nerds are trying to find out who does that after steph becomes an orphan (gladly in 18 not 33), and they need to do it quickly. if in the beginning it was getting better for the students of hatchetfield high who's parents were BAD bad, after some time max started to target all the fathers and mothers who was mean to their kids even a little bc his ghost mind is loosing it. in the end the nerds are trying to find the way how to stop it and not send max to superhell at the same time because in this au they know what his life already was its own kind of hell and they feel a little bit bad for him (and steph was feeling better after her dad was gone so she was kinda thankful)

[acutemushroom]

Hatchetfield Soulmate AU

I've been imagining for fun what each Hatchetfield main couple's soulmate marks could look like. So, each of these characters have a marking/tattoo somewhere on their body that is supposed to represent their soulmate and give them a clue as to their identity.

PAULKINS : Emma has blue music notes on her throat. In this AU, it's the reason why she even got into the theater club in the first place. She hoped to find her soulmate there. But she eventually lost hoped and ditch the town altogether like in canon !

Paul has coffee beans between his collarbones.

Why this placement and why music notes for Emma ? Pokotho wasn't particularly happy at all with this soulmate timeline thing. That was his brothers idea. So, he kind of just made it harder on his prophet, Paul, to even know what his soulmate mark was and wanted to leave him a message. "You might have a soulmate, you're still mine first and foremost"

BARNSTON : Tom has a caduceus on his forearm. Upon returning from the army and meeting Jane, he though it was for her. She was a psychiatrist and the caduceus is the emblem for all medical professions after all. But, nope. It was for Becky.

Becky has a wooden heart locket on her ankle. This is completely because Tom teach shop class and that they were high school sweetheart. Also the fact they've engraved their name in a heart on a seat of the Cineplex.

LEXTAN : Ethan has a beach shore with a palm tree on his neck. This is in reference to California, to all the efforts he does to bring the Fosters to California. They're his California, his everything. He's also their California inside of Hatchetfield.

Lex has an adjustable wrench on her hip. Because he's a mechanist. Yeah, sometimes the reasoning really is that simple 😅

LAUTSKI : Steph has a bow tie on the ring finger. I absolutely though about it because of the finger mustache tattoo trend. That and it fit Laut"If I loved You"ski so much. Her having a really obvious clue but not noticing or being in denial until the end...

Peter would probably have a phone screen on his leg. It is low hanging fruit to give him phone to represent Stephanie but I feel that Tinky would like to keep his mark on the Spankoffskis too. Even if he is less "in your face" than Pokotho. So, a phone screen showing the time kind of work.

Also, if you have any idea for these couples or for others, please share them ! I'd love to hear them 😊

[iamdispleased]

Hatchetfield & the Real Musical References

That theory of ‘the plays-within-plays foreshadow the next musical’ got me thinking about the real musicals referenced in the Hatchetfield Series and how they could connect to the story. That led to these findings.

CW: Relgion (Godspell), spoilers for the Hatchetfield Series, Godspell & Brigadoon

(I know there are more details I’m missing, as I haven’t seen either musical, but I’m just excited and wanted to share. Wikipedia is my ride-or-die.)

So. Godspell. Or, ‘God-awful’. Or, ‘Gotdamn That Was Bad’.

Y’all…

First, Godspell is mostly based on the Gospel of Matthew. Like Paul Matthews, the very guy who did not like musicals himself.

Skipping to Act II for a moment— there is a scene where…

“Jesus returns to his followers to find them all asleep. He begs them to stay awake, but they all fall asleep again, and Jesus warns them that they will all betray him three times.”

Remember in Act II of TGWDLM, after the song ‘Not Your Seed’, when Alice, Deb, and Hatchetfield Bee are talking to Paul after they killed Bill? And remember when they said:

“Bending countless civilizations to our will, yet, you, Paul, have defied us thrice!”

Insert The Incredibles’ (2004), “Coincidence? I think not!” meme here.

Godspell includes the tale of The Parable of the Prodigial Son, also known as the Parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father.

“The parable begins with a man who had two sons, and the youngest, who is impatient and greedy, asks his father to give him his share of the estate immediately. The father is like, “Y’know what? Fuck it. I’m feelin’ kinda funky today,” and agrees, dividing the estate in half.”

“Upon receiving his portion of the inheritance, the younger son travels to a distant country, where he squanders his wealth through reckless living.”

The younger son gets humbled, he comes back home in shame, blah, blah, blah, lesson learned.

If that’s not Emma Perkins, then I don’t know what is, especially considering she literally inherits land. I’m looking at you, Nightmare Time episode Perky’s Buds!!

And I admit, this is a reach, but the Parable of the Prodigal Son starts in Luke 15:11. Emma’s favorite band is 311. In military time, 3 pm = 15. So, 15:11 = 3:11 pm. This is either a happy accident or an intentional tidbit that managed to work out well.

Similar to the beginning of TGWDLM, it begins with God and the characters breaking the fourth wall and explaining shit via song.

At the end of Godspell, Jesus is crucified, and he is carried off stage by the cast. There has been a lot of controversy over the ending, because the musical does not mention Jesus’ resurrection at any point.

Almost like how in TGWDLM, Paul sacrifices himself, and when we thought Paul was resurrected at the end, he wasn’t. (To put it simply.) And we can’t forget how the cast carries a screaming Emma off stage, and the show ends on a (good) controversial note.

Brigadoon!

Brigadoon starts with these two New Yorkers, Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas doing that fancy kind of hunting white people do when the men hear music coming from a village nearby. But wait a hot second! There is no village on their map! And yet!! Turns out that village is a special place called Brigadoon. Why is it special? Here’s some WIKI for ya’.

“200 years ago, the local minister prayed to God to have Brigadoon disappear that way it would remain untouched by the outside world, only to reappear every 100 years. All citizens of Brigadoon are forbidden to leave the town, or it will disappear forever.”

Kind of reminds me of the whole ‘no one can ever truly leave Hatchetfield’ thing. So, could Hatchetfield be seen as a mirror of Brigadoon in some sense?

Hm.

There is literally a character named Tommy who ends up falling for Fiona, a lass from Brigadoon. The issue is, he’s engaged to a woman named Jane who he isn’t really that into. Even after he leaves Brigadoon, Tommy still thinks about Fiona.

Tommy is Tom. Jane is Jane. Fiona is Becky. Of course, this isn’t to be taken as they are the Hatchetfield equivalent to that character.

And it turns out, Emma Perkins hates Becky Barnes. Why? Sisterly principle. (Emma knows Tom always viewed Becky as ‘the one who got away’, even after marrying Jane.)

Going back to Paul and Emma!

After after meeting Fiona, Tommy asks the Brigadoon schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie, if outsiders were allowed to stay. He replies:

“A stranger can stay if he loves someone here – not jus' Brigadoon, mind ye, but someone in Brigadoon – enough to want to give up everythin' an' stay with that one person. Which is how it should be. 'Cause after all, lad, if ye love someone deeply, anythin' is possible.”

In TGWDLM, Paul and General MacNamara have that Iconic Conversation which has a similar vibe.

MacNamara: I follow a higher law than any institution could decree, and that is the universal truth of love and the strength of the human heart.

&

Paul: I can’t leave without Emma.

MacNamara: Who’s Emma, Paul?

Paul: A friend of mine.

MacNamara: Friends don’t move my heart, son. Is there a chance at something more?

Paul: […] I’d like there to be. I want there to be.

Shout out to Mamma Mia, and Bill wanting to see a feel good musical with his daughter about a daughter and her three possible fathers.

I stand behind the idea that Alice is Bill’s biological daughter, she’s just white passing. I’d also like to appreciate the fact that Alice’s favorite restaurant is Red Lobster.

I plan on actually watching these musicals soon, that way I can make more in-depth posts, but like I said— this just made me really happy and excited, and I wanted to share it.

Feel free to reblog and add onto this post! Seriously! I love when that happens! Okay, bye!

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

Theory: Hannah's Birth Led to Steph's Mom Dying

Okay, this is a bit of a wild journey, but I promise it's at least somewhat thought-out if you're willing to bear with me for a bit. (Theory under the cut!)

I'm endlessly fascinated by the absence of the Church of the Starry Children (not a random opener, I promise). We're told multiple that times that "nothing that dies in Waylon Hall ever truly dies," and we learn that the Waylons put a spell in place to essentially resurrect anyone killed on the house's property. We also learn that the Waylons and their followers all died in the house in 1979. So... where are they? Max was a singular teenager, and within two weeks he had the entirety of Hatchetfield whipped into a panicked frenzy. Surely an entire cult of evil zealots brought back from the dead and imbued with insatiable bloodlust would be even more noticeable. At the very least, their Number 1 Fan Roman and remaining widow Sheila would know that they were still out there, which is clearly not the case. So it's pretty undeniable that, despite their safety-measures, the Waylons and their followers are no longer around.

There are multiple potential reasons for this. The Hatchetmen have experience with such people. Perhaps they got around the spell by taking the Cult's bodies to the Witchwood and burying them there, though that doesn't seem hugely likely. Or maybe Miss Holloway took care of the Waylons back in the 80s. That timeline arguably kinda' sorta' works--Miss Holloway gave up her life as a pop star to become an immortal witch just a handful of years after the Waylons' deaths.

But then we have Solomon in Nerdy Prudes Must Die, who has the Black Book, but says that he will never touch it "ever again." This statement heavily implies that Solomon once summoned the Lords in Black, and the absence of Steph's mother implies that she was the price he paid. (Nick and Matt also give A LOT of credence to that theory in the Hatchetfield Halloween livestream.) Solomon also knows A LOT about Max, the spell that created him, and how to put an end to it. And sure, this could be second-hand knowledge passed down from previous mayors or Miss Holloway. But what if it's not? What if, in an eerie foreshadowing of his own daughter's future actions, Solomon Lauter was the one to summon the Lords in the Black and sacrifice the love of his life to stop the resurrected Waylons?

There's an obvious problem with this theory--the timeline. Judging by Max, it's likely that a whole cult of monstrous and monstrously powerful ghosts on the loose for 25 years would have been Apocalyptic long before the timelines had the chance to shatter.

So what if they weren't around? What if the Waylons' spell was not automatically triggered upon their deaths, but instead required activation? Perhaps, in their cult-y arrogance, Mathias and Agatha never imagined that every single one of their followers would be wiped out alongside them. Maybe the Starry Children were supposed to return to the Hall upon the Waylons' deaths and activate the magic. With the Cult massacred, there was no one left with the knowledge to complete the ritual and resurrect the dead, leaving them in limbo.

And then Hannah enters the scene, born the same year that Solomon performs his Summoning. We know from Wilbur that Hannah is basically a nuclear power plant. What if her birth, together with the massive burst of energy as Lex activated her powers to save her sister, (and also maybe PEIP's portal playing whatever role it played,) was enough to do for the Waylons as Hannah would later do for Willabella Muckwab? What if Hannah's nuclear battery existence automatically served to complete the Waylons' spell, activate the house (leaving it primed for Max's return from the grave), and release the Waylons onto the unsuspecting town? Leaving Solomon, town Mayor, sentinel at the gates of hell, to work alongside Miss Holloway and her Black Book, discover the truth of the Waylons, and summon the Lords in Black for help. And maybe Miss Holloway, still in the middle of her own deal, was unable to make another, separate one, leaving Solomon to give up what he treasured most...and murder Steph's mother.

(And maybe the little girl she left behind is nothing but a reminder of his loss and his guilt.)

(Update: lmao @thatdelusionalnerd just described this as "far-fetched but still makes quite a bit of sense" and I just wanted to acknowledge that because I feel like that's my sweet spot with Hatchetfield theories. Arguments that are absolutely bananas and almost definitely not true, but to my own consternation kinda' work nonetheless.)

[starcanwrecked-confessions]

I get that there are reasons people may have funded Cinderella's Castle and not Tinlightenment/why Cinderella's Castle got funded quicker than Tinlightenment, but I do not think you guys saying that understand JUST HOW BIG of a difference this was.

Cinderella's Castle fund goal was $250K, Tinlightenment fund goal was $200K and they raised $220K in total.

Tinlightenment raised their goal amount just before the final day of the kickstarter campaign, their campaign lasted a month. Cinderella's Castle got funded in a little less than 30 hours.

CINDERELLA'S CASTLE RASIED MORE MONEY IN 30 HOURS THAN TINLIGHTENMENT DID AN ENTIRE FUCKING MONTH. I can not understate how insane that is!

I have noticed in the past couple years people seem to only care about Hatchetfield, and it's okay to love Hatchetfield, I absolutely love Hatchetfield, it is my favorite of all StarCanWrecked productions, I became a fan because of Hatchetfield. But I remember during the first year of covid that there was so much love for EVERYTHING starkid, tcb and shipwrecked. But then after that first year it seems people only care for Hatchetfield.

Now I'm really so excited that so many people are excited for Cinderella's Castle, that's great!! I'm glad we are giving love to more stuff. But why are we only giving all our love to Cinderella's Castle? Why couldn't we give more love to the other productions going on? Hardly anyone talks about vhs christmas carols. Nobody talks about how the grunch cribbed Christmas. "but those are holiday things" ok sure but still hardly anyone was talking about grunch when it was actually coming out. Hardly anyone has been talk the case of the Greater Gatsby as that's been coming out and fear bc of its break even less people will talk about when it returns. In the tin can bros fandom it feels like I never see love anything except spies are forever really. The entire pulp musicals fandom seems to be just like 5 people.

I am begging fans who have seen more than just Hatchetfield to give love to more than just Hatchetfield. Please. You have seen how amazing all of this stuff we get to watch is. Go give it some love. Make some posts about it. I have some old fans/fans who have seen more than just Hatchetfield complain about fans who have just seen Hatchetfield and if you really think that then WHERE is your love for other stuff? You don't even have to make art or fanfic, you can just reblog stuff!

I am begging fans that have only seen Hatchetfield to at least TRY to watch something outside of it, you might like a lot of stuff, you just have to start with trying to find something that sounds appealing to you. You like spooky towns? Go check out wayward guide, solve it squad and headless. You just like musicals? Well starkid and tcb have many. Maybe you like short films. Maybe you like a certain franchise starkid has parodied. It is ok if you end up just liking Hatchetfield but I do think you should give other things its a try.

I know I'm probably coming off as rude and I'm sorry. And you don't have to go a show love for or watch anything outside of Hatchetfield if you don't want to. I just wish that people would. And I am frustrated that no one seems to care about 90% of the amazing stuff that has been made.

~~~

[yourlegacysnotyourstosee]

I took notes on my thoughts while watching Nerdy Prudes Must Die because I did the same for Black Friday

DAMN Jon said “I am a TENOR”

I literally can’t get over how good he sounds

AHHHHHH LAUREN!!!!!

Bro these songs SLAP

Damn Mariahs hair is so long

Pete is such a mood

I’m literally terrified of being pantsed so bad

BRUH NOT MICRO-PETER

Omg hey Kim

When Cory enthusiastically agrees I’m dying

Omg Max likes Grace???????

Wait that’s so cute

Wait why’s he kinda fine

“His name is Jesus Christ” HELP 💀💀💀💀💀

It’s giving Apex Predator (from Mean Girls)

Damn these HARMONIES THO

My jaw is on the floor the way Cory is talking to her

“How am I supposed to study without listening to Spotify?” ME LMFAO

I KNOW HE DID NOT JUST MAKE AN ISSAC NEWTON JOKE

The way hes like “this is about thermodynamics” me me me. I hate when people make jokes about the things we’re not even talking about.

“NANI” NO WAY HE SAID THAT HELP💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀I LITERALLY CANNOT BREATHE 💀💀💀💀💀💀

Study date????????

Joey Richter my beloved ❤️❤️❤️

When Max enters and the crowd cheers

“Rondevuch”

Max literally has a God complex

Why is Kim everyones mom?

“Walen place”?????

“Mom will you pass the butt stuff????” HELP SHES BEEN CORRUPTED

NO WAY SHES FANTASIZING ABOUT MAX JAGERMAN

LITERALLY WHAT

Awwww Grace is experiencing Catholic Guilt™ ❤️❤️❤️

Girl wdym “he’s gotta go”???

Laurens character is bisexual???????

“WAIFU MATERIAL”?????? I literally can’t get over Jons character

Wait Grace is a little fucked up actually

Wait since the Waylons built hatchetfield high and the starlight theater, could they have cursed the town somehow? Like I know about the evil brothers or whatever, but I’m not super familiar with the lore

Wait I kind of love Grace now

Mariah slays

“Am I reading as Ghost, or Lin Manuel Miranda?” AWWWWWW❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

“Your fucking useless Pete.” Tgwdlm???? In MY npmd???? It’s more likely than you think

I’m very suspicious about how fast they seemed to put the plan together…

I know the plan wont work and Im so nervous I’m getting secondhand embarrassment so bad rn

“Skele-ens”

I need Max Jagerman actually

Awwww Max is a Theater Kid ❤️❤️❤️

AW FUCK HE DIED

HOLY FUCK HE DIED

GIRL WTF IS WRONG WITH GRACE

I love how upbeat this song is

WHYD SHE CUT HIS NIPPLES OFF WTF

Omg Dan and Donna!

Slay Mayor Lauter

His reaction to being asked to the game is giving- “she asked me for the time” “no way” “way :D”

THE NIGHTHAWKS MASCOT 💀💀💀💀

FUCK CLIVESDALE

DAMN THEYRE IN THE SPLITS GOOD FOR THEM

I like that the football team has only 2 players

I love when actors walk through the audience, but ESPECIALLY here when hes stalking Richie bro looks so good

Listen I know he’s about to kill Richie but HES SO FINE HELP

Im literally so Gay bro

THE SMOKE CLUB!!!!!!

THE NIGHTMARE TIME THEME

When she says hes not hot anymore girl speak for yoursef

Please let Grace swear

Oh fuck they’re giving themselves away

Grace Chastity said “acab”

Cory needs more songs

MAN IN A HURRY RETURNS!!!!!

Damn who is this girl in a trenchcoat 😍😍😍

GERALD OH MY GOD

Random side note but what happened to Robert? I was just thinking about how I wish we could see Hidgens again but is Robert still a part of Starkid anymore? Is he on to Bigger and Better things? Does anyone know what those are? I’d love to continue to support him.

Edit: NVM NVM I TAKE IT BACK I DO NOT WANT TO SUPPORT ROBERT MANION NO NO NO SIR

The invisible bird. Literally high school theater

“Heahs the thang about ah bahbecue”

“Ah wawna remember who ah ayum”

Ruth is so real for not know when to do the lights bc the cue lines were wrong

Ugh Laurens voice is so good and I know ive said that about pretty much everyone but it’s true

I know shes about to die rn

The red lighting gave it away

THE WAY HE LOOKS INTO CAMERA AFTER HE KILLS HER I NEED HIM SO BAD

Why did Kim scream like that

Awww Grace has religious trauma now ❤️❤️❤️

THE COPS THEME

OH MY GOD PAUL AND EMMA!!!!!!!!!

He gave her his number❤️❤️❤️

Hot chocolate boy!!!!!!!! I knew Peter was the hot chocolate boy but still

This duet is EVERYTHING

Obsessed with the fact he called MARIAH ROSE FAITH a MEAN GIRL

“Axe wielding maniacs?”

The Waylons did not dig that shit very deep…

OH FUCK THEY HAVE TO SUMMIN THE LORDS IN BLACK

I KNEW THE WAYLONS BUILT LAKESIDE MALL

im so sorry Zombie Max is So Fine

WIGGLY

THEY HAVE HUMAN FORMS??????

“Let me check my Christmas list”

“What do you want steph?” MORE tgwdlm? In MY npmd?

I feel bad for not knowing all their names

Max says bitch a lot

Damn this show is long

Omg this is so sad im tearing up a lil

Max is so fucking funny

Damn Grace is seducing Max this is hilarious

Fuck Grace Chastity or kill some nerds? One of the many difficult decisions in life

He decides to fuck Grace Chastity

OH MY GOD THATS SO SMART

Thats some fuckin Macbeth level shit

Kims teacher character is so cute awwwww

Paul and Bill dance Chaperones??????

Oh nvm that’s Jason

I don’t think I ever mentioned it but the dancing is really good

It’s very clean and crisp

In the last 2 hours I very quickly developed a massive crush on Will Branner

OH FUCK

WHATS GOING ON

WHAT

[markerofthemidnight]

An idea I came up with for a sort of AU/sequel to Black Friday (below the cut):

After the spectacular failure that was the last Black Friday scheme, Wiggly attempts it again except this time: A. confined to Hatchetfield and not the whole of America (+ Russia), and B. with each of his brothers joining in on the carnage.

Thus begins the tale of the Drowsy Town Friends line-up: robotic dolls considerably more Furby-like internally than canon, held within mystery boxes which perfectly conceal the identity of which toy you’re getting until they’re opened.

Only 49.95 at Toy Zone. And if you don’t get the exact doll you’re looking for, you get no money back! Such is the way of a capitalist!

So when Black Friday comes and 850 of those cuties hit the shelves, Toy Zone is eventually left a barren wasteland of packages ripped open by shoppers desperate to get the specific Drowsy Town Friend that they think their children want.

But it wouldn’t be a very interesting story if that were all.

Firstly, all Drowsy Town Friends are influenced by their associated Lord. Although they can’t say anything other than the lines programmed into them, they can become hostile at the drop of a hat if they sense that anyone nearby means to interfere with their plans.

Secondly, there are five specific DTF- one for each type- that are actually controlled by their associated Lord, to the point of basically being them but in physical, robotic, newly-born bodies.

And like all newborns, they’re growing. Growing quickly. They’re getting bigger and stronger, their mechanical parts turning into flesh as their powers slowly return.

So our protagonists have an even harder goal in mind: to track down and kill all five of them before they grow too powerful for their own good. Which won’t be an easy task, especially with both all the dolls and the cultists protecting them.

With things getting worse and worse as time goes on, you have to wonder if there will ever even be a tomorrow.

[the-interidiot]

What’s hatchetfield (I read ur strawpage and I thought you might wanna explain it)

APABDJAIDNAPCKA!!!!!! /VPOS

(WARNING, LONG! BAD SPELLING!)

HATCHETFIELD is a series of musicals from the musical studio Starkid. They’re ALL free on YouTube, WATCH THEM!!!!! (/nf)

It’s a trilogy (plus a web series that isn’t crucial) about a fictional town named Hatchetfield where spooky things happen and gay people get m/rdered. :)

The first one - TGWDLM is a very Invasion of the Body Snatchers-esc horror, it’s about a singing apocalypse where an autistic man, his girlfriend and his coworkers become the only sentient humans alive. There’s no real TWs- minus some very fake stage gore (it’s blue) and a few suggestive scenes, but nothing really sexual??

The second one - Black Friday is a more Purge style story, it’s about a stuffed animal with the essence of a godlike being, so when people are around it they become so desperate to have it they’ll k!Ll others around them to get their hands on the doll. Quite a tad more blood, much less sex jokes - it’s the most serious of the three, and the only one reading as genuinely scary sometimes. (MY FELLAS ARE IN IT!!! WILBUR CROSS I LOVE YOU /P!!!!!)

Finally, NPMD is the third installment and the second most recent Starkid show! It’s slasher horror, Scream style. It’s the most popular and focuses on side characters related to the main characters of TGWDLM (Ted’s brother, Paul’s nephew (headcanon, but so well-accepted its second canon)). It’s got the most sexual stuff but is also the funniest consistently throughout, whilst still being tense at times! It’s about a group of teenagers accidentally killing their high school bully, who returns from the grave to kick their ASSES!

Anyway I love harchetfild I love hatchetfield please ask me more hatchetfeild stuff please

[cryptiqish]

some quick thoughts on nerdy prudes must die

first off - this is 100% a return to form for starkid for me. tgwdlm was like. lighting in a bottle but i really, really am not a fan of black friday - so i dipped after that, and never really looked into nightmare time etc. as i'm not super into the hatchetfield eldritch lore stuff - honestly, i figured i was aging out of it. THAT SAID. holy shit. npmd is brilliant

every single goddamn song is a banger. every one. it's so rare for me to like everything at least to a little bit, but when i can interchange my entire top 5 you know it's brilliant. high school is killing me, nerdy prudes must die, dirty girl, hatchet town...all top tier starkid in general. up there w tgwdlm

angela giarratana and will branner steal this entire show. absolutely insane stuff from both of them. will in particular...oh man. it's his show and you just KNOW it

oh shit!!! oh fuck!!!! i didnt think thered be a skele'uhn here... im so fucking scared of skele'uhnz!!!

it's FUNNY

i <3 the weird anime nerd kid. rip king

jon's vocals and just. general range in this is amazing to see from tgwdlm

 i will say i wish this maintained the more straight slasher vibe of the first act all the way through but that’s just personal preference since i'm less into the overarching eldritch lore stuff as mentioned. with that in mind though, i didn't find the lords in black stuff as jarring as i thought i would (and the summoning's a banger) - so it works narratively. i think at the end of the day i prefer my standalone shows - not everything needs to be an extended universe - so i was pleasantly surprised at how relatively well this could function as its own thing.

following that - i think this is the closest starkid's gotten to like, off-broadway quality - with plot modifications i could 100% see it making the jump. the production quality - of both the musical itself and the proshot, is amazing - everything pops, it's incredibly polished and just looks brilliant (again, such a step up from BF.)

shoutout to the costume design in particular. top tier work again. ghost max looked crazy good.

for something that in actuality didn't get a lot of focus...can’t stop thinking about how the whole max jagerman grace chastity dynamic is like the absolute HARDEST thing to randomly come out of starkid. the implicit themes had absolutely no right to go that hard!!!! it’s a silly horror comedy!

devout repressed christian and a boy that thinks he’s god. and then she deals with the first sign of sexual attraction to him by killing him??

and then his ghost comes back for vengeance, viewing it as divine justice - and then she ends the musical enacting her own vengeful divine justice?? straight up with modified reprise of his song?? they’re one and the same?? the prayer motif???

“will you pray for me / when i’m gone / or is this the eternal dark without a dawn” and “who will pray for you / when your body’s gone” is like the rawest motif of all time and it’s in the same musical that has an ten minute long barbecue joke sequence unrelated to the plot

nothing sexier than the motif of killing god and god killing you, in general. i do think i loved this one because it played with a lot of my fave tropes and themes of horror - high school slasher, archetypes, coming back wrong, religion, all that

"the big game" kept cracking me up it's so dumb and yet

anyway this whole thing just felt like we've unlocked...i dunno, a new level of starkid?? i was blown away and i'm sure for those more invested in hatchetfield beyond tgwdlm it hit even more, but it's left me so excited to see what's next from them for the first time in years.

[thewickedblackcat]

Lautski Week: Day 5 (Change)

Me: Does this count? I’m not sure if this count. Also Me: Of course, this counts! There’s plenty of change that goes on in this AU. This board is a Lautski Warm Bodies AU. For those who may not know what Warm Bodies is, it’s a zombie romance movie/book series. (I have only read the first book but from what I heard, the other books are unnecessary.) While this AU is based mostly on the 2013 movie, there is at least one detail from the book in here.

(I do not own anything.)

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

(Click on Keep Reading to hear the details of this AU.)

Steph doesn’t have much going for her, which makes sense since she is a zombie. She doesn’t remember much from her life from before. She spends most of her days walking around the Hatchetfield High School, or what’s left of it. She has made one of the class room her little home with treasures she found on her travels. The only thing she has to look forward is becoming a boney, which is a zombie that has lost all of their skin and is viewed as the final form for zombies.

Meanwhile, Pete lives in a survivor camp that is holding on by a thread, despite what the mayor might say. He lives with his older brother, Ted, and two friends, Ritchie and Ruth. They’re at the bottom of the totem pole of the camp. Pete tries to stay invisible and keeps a low profile in order to survive. But, it’s kinda hard when you’re one of the only kids left and your only other family is known as one of the biggest b*st*rd in town. (And, that was before the zombie apocalypse.) Despite this title, Pete has a loving relationship with Ted.

However, everything changes when Pete, Ted, Ruth, and Richie are put into a supply run with a couple other people. They scavenge around what used to be Hatchetfield Mall. But, they are soon ambushed by zombies, including Steph. During the attack, Steph kills Ted and eats his brain. Through this, she can see Ted’s memories and feels something again. Steph sees everything about Ted: his heartbreak, his descent of being a jerk, his affairs with multiple women, but most importantly, his relationship with his brother. It seems to be the only positive in Ted’s life and Steph can’t help but smile at the memory. Once Steph comes out of the memories, she immediately realizes that Ted’s brother, Pete, is here. In a move that she can’t explain, Steph prevents another zombie from attacking him and makes it look like she’s claiming him as food.

Pete freezes as the zombie girl comes near her. Most of the party is already dead and he can’t find Ted. This is the end. Pete closes his eyes to prepare for the bite but it never comes. Instead, he hears a soft female voice. “P-P-Pete …”

Pete open his eyes in shock. He had never heard a zombie actually talk before. He watched as the zombie touch an open wound and spread her blood all over his face. It then becomes clear that the other zombies can’t smell him. As the zombies starts to leave, the girl zombie pulls him up and has him follow her with the rest of the zombies. As Pete walks away with the zombies, he sees both Richie and Ruth hiding under a table, watching in horror as he is taking away.

After the zombies return to the high school, Steph take Pete to her classroom. Pete find it so ironic that he’ll die at the same place that he had once thought would kill him. However, Steph never goes for him. Instead, she helps Pete get food from the cafeteria and protects him from the other zombies. She reassures him that she’ll lead him back to the survivor camp once the zombie traffic around the school dies down in a few days. In the meantime, the two become closer through explore Steph’s treasures and through talking. (Pete does most of the talking but Steph listens and tries to comfort him.) After a few days, Pete insists to leaving and Steph agrees. However, as they leave, both the zombies and the boneys notices them. While the zombies first tried to attack them, they seem to let them pass. The two start their journey to the survivor camp.

As Steph and Pete’s relationship grows, Steph feels different. She doesn’t feel hungry for brains as before. Her skin starts to have more color. She can say sentences now. And, the biggest of all is she can sometimes feel and hear a beating in her chest. Steph isn’t the only zombie to experience these changes. Many of the zombies at the high school start feeling the same way, including two zombies girls in cheerleading uniforms. Pete starts to wonder if it’s possible for a zombie to become a human again. However, not everyone is open to the change. The boneys refuses the change and will do anything to keep things the way they are. Steph and Pete will have to convince the humans survivors that the zombies can change if they stand a chance against the boneys.

Some other details to note:

Solomon is the mayor of the survivor camp but doesn’t care about the zombies at all, even if his own daughter is one of them.

Like in the movie, Steph does confess to eating Ted with Pete having his suspicions. Pete does leave Steph due to this and trying to protect her from the survivors. He does forgive her.

After Ted dies, he becomes a voice in Steph’s head. At first, he starts slamming her for eating him and taking his brother, adding to her guilt. However, as the story develops, Ted and Steph’s relationship does get better and Ted makes Steph promise to protect Pete.

Before you ask, yes, Max is one of the boneys.

Ruth definitely asks Steph a hundred questions about being a zombie while Richie compares her to zombie/undead anime characters. Pete is in the background, facepalming.

[pipperoo]

Summary:

In an effort to get Max off her back, Grace invites him to a "date" at Waylon Hall in an effort to scare him off. But, when the crumbling floorboards sends Max to his early demise, Grace believes her problem to be solved. Until, he returns as a ghost that only she can see and hear and, even worse, who can't get more than 30 feet away before he forcibly teleports back to her side. Through their efforts to figure out how to send Max to the next plane, they grow closer and learn more about the person they didn't that well in the first place. But, digging deeper into the mystery may lead them straight to danger that lurks in the heart of this town. - Max accidentally becomes a ghost which allows him and Grace to growth as they get into shit together.

The first chapter to one of my newest fic is out! I was hoping to get this out earlier, but things didn't really flesh out, but I now have so much time to work on it now. I really hope you enjoy bc I've had this idea since late March and have thought abt it so much.

This is one of two fics I plan to work on (the steph and the phantoms au is coming!) and I plan to finish the first chapter for the other before continuing this. Hope you like it :)