#hatchetfield meta

[akicklineisinevitable]

so I've seen people say that since the LIB look like high schoolers when they're summoned at the Hatchetfield High Black Altar, their forms would changed based on where they're summoned, and I rock with that headcanon. business suits for the CCRP building, theatre costumes for the Starlight, fancy 1820s dress for the Waylon place

but what the fuck would they look like at the Lakeside Mall? mall goths? 80s mall rats?? who hangs out at malls??? would they just be teenagers again???? these are the things that keep me up at night

#originals #the lords in black #pokotho #bliklotep #t'noy karaxis #nibblenephim #wiggog y'wrath #pokey #blinky #tinky #nibbly #wiggly #hatchetverse #hatchetfield #hatchetfield musicals #hatchetfield series #hatchetfield universe #hatchetfield meta

[inamindfarfaraway]

I love how Paul's character in The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals is defined entirely by a lack of desire, or desire defined only as 'not what I don't want'. "What Do You Want, Paul?" is a big joke about what a terrible narrative protagonist he is. But it's deeper than that. Throughout the show, even in the smallest, most insignificant phrasing, this man only ever expresses wants in these negative forms, as if he's incapable of feeling attraction in itself rather than simply avoiding what he dislikes. And only avoiding! He never says that he hates anything, either! That would give him passion, drive, perhaps the goal of actively removing that thing. No, he exclusively uses the verb hate in past tense.

He doesn't like musicals, singing, dancing or public performances. He makes this very clear, to the point that it's one of his most significant character traits. At no point does he ever talk about liking any media.

He doesn't want to do social activities.

He doesn't want to give away his money. About both this and the above, he can provide no logical explanation or moral justification. He just doesn't feel like them.

He always gets black coffee because it has "no cream, no sugar, nothing in it"; that is to say, he might not necessarily love it, merely prefer it over its sweeter or more complex alternatives.

He doesn't believe that Emma should have to sing and dance at work - he doesn't want her life to be so unfair and annoying to the both of them.

He doesn't want to obstruct the workings of his office (saying "that's the last thing I want" triggers "What Do You Want, Paul?").

He says, "I wanna go home!" when Mr Davidson is singing at him, but means that he wants to be somewhere safe and not stuck in this incredibly uncomfortable situation.

He doesn't want to die.

He specifically doesn't want to die in Clivesdale, because fuck Clivesdale.

He doesn't want to join the Hive.

He doesn't want to leave Hatchetfield, even when it's the site of an alien invasion that is his personal worst nightmare. He actually says that "All things considered, I like Hatchetfield", arguably an exception to the standard. However, he's also well aware of the town's flaws and problems. He grew up one of its poorer residents, attending the inferior, underfunded Sycamore High School where he casually admits the students "hated [themselves]" and having to watch its more respectable rival Hatchetfield High's school play. He has no strong investment in his tedious middle-class office job. He doesn't get along with some of his fellow townsfolk, like his coworker Ted and all the employees of Beanies except Emma. He awkwardly evades giving to charity and the homeless every morning on his way to work. His life is decidedly not one of utter bliss, and yet it's good enough for him in that he doesn't have the energy, ambition or imagination to want anything more. Since he's "been here [his] whole life", his affection for his hometown could be more an aversion to everywhere else or the hassle of travelling. Sticking with the devil he intimately knows.

He doesn't think badly of Emma, and says so because he doesn't want her to or believe that he does after learning that she helped make a "hated" experience of his happen.

He doesn't want to let Bill die, which is why he goes with Bill to rescue Alice. His heroism and proactiveness at the turning point of the end of Act One start to notably erode his apathy, but his phrasing reaffirms his negative motivations: "Hey, it's not like you're asking me to go see Mama Mia!", "Emma, there comes a time in every man's life when he has to draw a line in the sand. And I will never be in a fucking musical."

He doesn’t want Bill to blame himself for Alice's endangerment, stay in the area once Alice is revealed to be a vessel of the Hive or kill himself.

He doesn't want to do some light reading on the universal truth of love and the strength of the human heart.

He has no positive motivation. He breaks one of the most basic rules of being a fictional character, let alone the main character the audience is supposed to root for. He isn't just an antihero, he's an anti-protagonist. Although this could easily make him boring or unsympathetic, he manages to seem relatable. Real. Human. He captures so genuinely an ordinary person living an ordinary life suddenly trapped in a horror story. How many of can honestly articulate "one concrete goal that motivates all [our] actions"? Even if you can, you wouldn't undergo a narratively fulfilling and thematically cohesive arc related to that desire the way a fictional character would. We're all essentially just trying to survive each day. To make or keep our lives however we define 'good enough'. We may not have a crystal clear picture of our ideal life, but I bet we all have a long list of things we don't want in it. We're all Paul.

What more appropriate antagonist for this man to face, then, than a force that exists to strip people of their autonomy, their individuality, their personhood, and force them to play archetypical characters in a conventional narrative? The Hive observes that Paul is an anti-protagonist and takes offence to this. It seeks to convert him into his antithesis, the "bold" "leading man" of its musical who the audience can "sympathize with". The Infected highlight this in the opening song, in which they eagerly anticipate and prepare the audience for his entrance... and he misses his cue. He isn't following their script. Perhaps that's why the audience is able to believe in this average, unassuming antihero's potential to succeed, to defeat the Hive or at the very least escape it, despite how fraught and grim the situation becomes. The story certainly proves itself to be cruel to its characters; but Paul doesn't operate like a normal character. The Hive promises to fulfil people's desires and make them happy throughout the play. Charlotte, Bill, Hidgens and Ted's deaths are connected to, either in direct causality or thematic relevance, their respective desires for Sam's love, Alice's safety, world peace (and the glory of a musical career) and Ted's own survival. Paul is uniquely immune to this pattern of death related to a core motivation.

Until:

"I can't leave without Emma”, “a friend of mine."

"Is there a chance of something more?"

"I think so. I'd like there to be. I want there to be."

He wants Emma, her life and her happiness and maybe, just maybe, her love. He wants to love her. To spend time with her. For the first time ever, he wants more out of life, not less. He's a little bit more of a character. After the Infected reprise the "Did you hear the word?" section of the opening song, building up to his appearance, this time he does enter the theatre, coming down the aisle just as he was meant to. Right on cue. Paul is now vulnerable to the narrative - the Hive's narrative. And the Hive's control.

Still he resists, even while doubting if he was ever really happy before. Not only does he use his final words, fittingly, to declare that he doesn't like musicals, but before that he firmly refutes the Hive, and the philosophy behind it and all the pressures and temptatations it might represent: "It doesn't matter what I want." What matters is the good of the world. Emma. Love. Hope. Freedom. Integrity. Humanity, which must be wonderful if we can make sacrifices like this for all the right reasons.

Rest in peace, Paul Matthews. You were the opposite of a conventional protagonist, but a true hero.

#paul matthews #the guy who didn't like musicals #tgwdlm #hatchetfield #tgwdlm hive #hatchetfield meta #tgwdlm meta #tgwdlm analysis #analysis

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

Max And Order

It’s interesting how the ghost of Max “I bring order to Hatchetfield High” Jagerman, who spent his life ferociously enforcing assigned social strata, only ever murders his classmates after they experience moments of growth and break from the roles they’ve always played. Max attacks Richie after Richie gains friendship and acceptance from the popular athletes, going from an invisible nobody in a costume to a “bro” and crucial member of the team. And by making Richie ask who will bother to pray for him after he dies, Max even forces Richie back into a place of alienation and loneliness right before the end. Ruth is targeted after she performs onstage for the first time, “just for once” conceptualizing herself as the star of the show and not the unseen stagehand. Then, as Max murders her, he pretends she’s the leading lady in a snuff-play, using her own dream against her.

This even holds true for Steph and Pete—Max toys with them for several scenes in Act 2, but only swoops in for the actual kill after Steph and Pete finally admit their feelings for each other, Pete proves himself to be very cool indeed, and Steph agrees to a (very hypothetical) date, violating the very boundaries Max literally beat into Pete just two weeks earlier. And that’s not even to mention how Steph killing Pete, at his own request, violates Max’s desire that both simply be powerless victims of their fate.

Sure it’s different with the adult victims, but when it comes to the classmates he domineered in life, it’s not the just “nerdy prudes” that he targets first, but those who dare to defy Jagerman’s sense of order. A god complex, indeed.

I dunno, it’s just such a smart and subtle set-up and payoff. The Langs are really freakin' good at what they do.

#hatchetfield #hatchetfield meta #nerdy prudes must die #npmd #nerdy prudes must die spoilers #npmd spoilers #max jagerman #richie lipschitz #ruth fleming #steph lauter #pete spankoffski

[disregardcanon]

one of my favorite parts of tgwdlm is that paul is legitimately AWFUL at explaining to emma what's scary about the situation that they're in. "i think the world is becoming a musical" paul dude that's accurate but absolutely fuckin' buckwild and not the scary part for People Who Are Not You. of course emma thought you were off your rocker, guy who doesn't like musicals. you probably saw the hfhs show choir doing an oklahoma medley in the park and came to rant about it. crazy eyes mcgee

#tgwdlm #hatchetfield #paul matthews #my dude i love you but OH BOY how did you think that was gonna go #hatchetfield meta

[deathishauntedbyhumans]

I’m not super active in Starkid internet circles so idk if this is something that’s been talked abt before/anyone else’s theory/a common theory etc but.

I rewatched NPMD last night (the proshot is GORGEOUS) and developed something of a. crack theory? Actual theory? I’m not sure anymore. It could be both.

One of the lines in Dirty Girl sung by Max is “I am expecting you to be-betray me” which is a really interesting line on its own in the context of the rest of the play. It’s foreshadowing, it’s innocuously set in the middle of a sexy song, it’s wholly overlooked as Grace drools over fantasy!Max’s crucifix. But… why is it even there? What’s the point of that line in GRACE’S FANTASY? Why would her fantasy of Max expect her to betray him?

My theory. My theory is that it’s not really HER fantasy at all. Or… it is, but it’s complicated.

The whole musical, the entire power struggle with Max dying in the Waylon house eventually leading to Grace taking up her holy crusade to kill all dirty dudes using the Black Book and invoking the Lords in Black, only happens because Grace sets it all in motion. Because she gets horny, and engages with a fantasy of Max who appears to her and tells her… that he’s expecting her to betray him.

All I’m saying is that I wouldn’t put it past the Lords in Black to somehow be able to engage with the waking world (or NOT the waking world— Grace specifically opens her eyes when her dad knocks on her door at the end of Dirty Girl, if I remember correctly, like she was fantasising or DREAMING with her eyes closed) and beam a vision/dream/what-have-you of Max Jaegerman directly into Grace’s head in order to fuck with her and set THEIR plans into motion.

#they’ve done more for less! #npmd #nerdy prudes must die #starkid #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #wade talks #my meta #lords in black #grace chasity #grace chastity

[thejagermeister]

one of the saddest lines in npmd to me is "who will pray for me / when i'm gone / or is this the eternal dark without a dawn"

because i wholeheartedly believe that entire segment is max projecting on richie. richie is a nerd, therefore no one will miss him. except that's verifiably false— what about ruth, peter, the football team who became his friends?

meanwhile, after max died... everyone rejoiced. no one misses him. he is completely forgotten. so he starts his revenge plot, killing the nerds that caused his death.

it's not only that, though. the wording of "eternal dark without a dawn" implies that whatever sort of afterlife max is experiencing as a ghost isn't good. sure, he gets to be powerful and get his revenge, but... without a dawn? without hope? without rest?

even if he did achieve his goal, i don't think max would have ever been happy as a ghost.

#and THATS why he's doomed by the narrative babeyyyy #i want to see a fic where max kills everyone and is still miserable #nerdy prudes must die #max jagerman #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #starkid #npmd #meta #analysis

[marvelmaniac715]

Sometimes I feel an overwhelming urge to write an intentionally bad fic as if one of the Lords in Black has tasked one of their Sniggles to write a fic shipping them with their favourite human but the Sniggles barely understand human languages and culture so it’s a mess and the Lord instructs the Sniggle to get rid of it but somehow it ends up published and the author’s note at the end is in character as the Lord going absolutely MENTAL because they also can’t figure out AO3’s system and now the fic is out there forever, tarnishing their name.

#starkid #team starkid #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #the hatchetfield series #hatchetblr #lords in black #the lords in black #sniggles #sniggle #fanfiction #ao3 #bad fanfiction #meta #plot ideas

[basilpaste]

people have been talking about the use of vocal technique to inform characters emotions recently because of glinda in wicked and it is making me think things.

now. okay. ive heard a lot of people say that they dont really like graces voice in nerdy prudes must die. which is totally fair, if its not your thing its not your thing. but. ive also heard people say that its just because angela 'doesnt have a very strong singing voice'.

which. i mean. compared to some of the crazy female vocalists in starkid, maybe her voice isnt the strongest! however: this isnt the first starkid show angela has had a major role in.

lex has a significantly fuller tone in black friday than grace does in npmd. its got more weight to it and its inspired at least vaguely by pop punk.

so. uh. anyhow. comparatively, graces voice is a little more scattered. shes a very high strung character and i am absolutely 100% sure that angela does her voice the way she does on purpose.

i think graces voice aligns pretty directly with if shes doing what she wants or not. because her voice drops to a much fuller tone in her songs twice throughout the show: in dirty girl and dirty dudes must die.

in dirty girl shes letting herself fantasize. because she does, actually, have a thing for max. so her tone in their imaginary duet reflects that. she lets herself get caught in the idea of it.

in dirty dudes must die, shes fully embraced her role as a vessel for the lords in black. she likes the power the black book has given her. she wants to shape the world, or at least hatchetfield, to her liking.

#nerdy prudes must die #starkid #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #nerdy prudes must die meta #npmd #grace chastity #angelas voice is more polished in the cast recording overall and tbh it makes grace lose a little of her charm for me! #i like that shes a bit rougher throughout the show.

[teranobriss]

General shoutout to @blazeoh and @lovelautski interacting with this post back-to-back and having the most perfect profile pictures ever for this screenshot, the stars aligned for this one

#the like 5 pixels of each pfp im so sorry lol #i just noticed this in my notifs earlier #hatchetfield #starkid #hatchetverse #team starkid #personal #meta #tumblr #not hatchetfield content #yellow jacket #nightmare time #nightmare time 2

[thesiblingsoftheblackandwhite]

Okay you guys, here's your cover story: You don't have any vaccines/medical records because your father was anti-vax and Tinky has been taking care of you, probably for several years. Also your still definitely from France. Got it?

Tinky’s doing that anyway-

We’ve never been to France! How are we supposed to keep that up? That was a joke! Sort of…

#the lords in black #Pokotho #T’noy Karaxis #ask blog #rp blog #Blog Event: Hatchetfield Citizens #Event: Hospital #(Meta jokes are meta//OOC)

[inevitablemoment]

Hatchetfield 🤝 Springfield

Small town ending in "field," corrupt mayor, lawyer that caters to the rich and has an inexplicable New York accent, a squeaky-voiced teen that seems to have every single job, a sea captain that talks like an extra from the version of Treasure Island that starred Bobby Driscoll, and a seemingly picture-perfect fundie family (the Chasitys and the Flandereses).

#Hatchetfield #The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals #Black Friday #Nightmare Time #Nerdy Prudes Must Die #The Simpsons #Meta #Team StarKid #Hatchetfield series #Hatchetfield saga #Hatchetfield universe #Is this just the fictional small-town starter kit? #I mean I love it #But I can't help but notice the parallels #Were some of this intentional? #i.e. the Squeaky-Voiced Teen and the Sea Captain #Surprised they didn't have a Scottish groundskeeper in NPMD #Jeff Blim would've nailed that role

[akicklineisinevitable]

WAIT WAIT WAIT. THE FUCKING "THIS IS THE BRIDGE WHERE WE GLOBALISE EVERYTHING" LINE FROM TGWDLM. PAUL'S WITNESS PROTECTION NAME IS BEN BRIDGES. ITS BEEN FIVE YEARS HOW DID I ONLY JUST NOTICE THAT

#IM GOIG INSANE #GIRL HELP THE IMPLICATIONS ARE IMPLICATING #sorry. normal again #anyway i knew the line had the double meaning of like. the bridge of a song and the bridge between hatchetfield and clivesdale #but omg it's also about infected!paul. he's the bridge. who globalises everything #good for him <3 #originals #hatchetverse #hatchetfield #hatchetfield musicals #hatchetfield series #hatchetfield universe #the guy who didn't like musicals #tgwdlm #paul matthews #infected!paul #hatchetfield meta

[inamindfarfaraway]

I love how cleverly Black Friday recontextualizes Christmas music and imagery to be menacing and sinister:

Green is Wiggly’s colour, commonly associated with the supernatural and extraterrestrial because in terms of lighting, it’s very unnatural. You only see green light naturally occur in seemingly mystical phenomena like the auroras. In terms of animals, Wiggly’s trademark bright green is pretty rare and primarily used to warn predators of toxicity or be more attractive to a potential mate. In human culture, it’s the colour of American paper money and frequently considered the colour of greed (wanting more money and material things) and envy (wanting what others have).

Red is the lighting colour of human evil and vice. It’s most prominent in scenes like Wiley’s deal with Linda and Sherman strangling Lex. This also makes sense: red is blood, danger, fire. But together the villainous colours for lighting are the colours of Christmas. Often when things are the worst, people being immoral and Wiggly exerting his power simultaneously like during the riot, the lighting is also paradoxically the most festive.

The Christmas tinsel on the upper level looks completely ordinary, until it’s used as the tentacles of Wiggly’s true face. Not only is this being so otherworldly and incomprehensible that he’s ‘played’ by parts of the set (same with the stage light eyes), but it visually shows that he’s to a degree been part of the story the whole time, looming over the characters’ heads. An element of his spirit has always been there and remains after he’s defeated, just like the unfair, exploitative socioeconomic structures he takes advantage of. He isn’t killed at the end, merely overcome and kept at bay for now, just like the flawed nature of humanity.

In his first scene Frank, the personification of capitalism, sings sections of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” with Wiggly replacing Jesus. This is entirely of his own free will, as the toy shipment hasn’t even been unboxed. But then paralleling Wiggly with Jesus (“open your heart up to his love”, “The father’s the son, the son’s the father”, “the birth of a god”, “[Christmas Day is] going to be my birthday”, “you have kept the shepherd from his flock”, “He will rise up with joyful noise”, etc.) and associating him with Christmas music (the tune of “Carol of the Bells” is one of his leitmotifs and sung to in “Wiggle”, he’s introduced in person to jingling bells in “Made in America”) become motifs throughout the show. This theme is both a dark, terrifying perversion of everything Christmas is meant to be about, right down to Wiggly amplifying selfishness and greed while Christmas promotes selflessness and generosity; and a sobering reminder that through the extreme commercialization of the holiday, we ourselves have already corrupted it.

Why “Carol of the Bells” specifically, though? That piece of music contains the “Dies Irae” leitmotif, a widespread musical shorthand for death. The Gregorian hymn that originated it, Latin title translating to “Day of Wrath”, refers to Judgement Day. In this event God will supposedly judge all human souls and select those who have been good and followed his ways and laws to receive eternal reward, while those who have been sinful and disobedient are condemned to suffer forever. Given the strong ‘Wiggly = the Christian God but evil’ theme… what judgement do you think Wiggly would cast upon humanity? Makes the corresponding lyric “When Wiggly comes” even more ominous, doesn’t it?

#this kinda makes me want fanart of linda and a wiggly toy as mary and baby jesus #she’s even explicitly NOT a virgin! #starkid black friday #black friday meta #black friday analysis #black friday spoilers #wiggly #wiggog y'wrath #hatchetfield #hatchetfield series #hatchetverse

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

Until Another Richie Comes Along...

(UPDATE: For anyone who didn't see the live show or digital ticket and are wondering what the fuck I'm talking about, they actually changed the lyrics from the original show for the album and proshoot. This post is about what Max originally sings.)

Well folks, we’re a couple of weeks into the digital ticket run, and I can’t stop thinking about the “who will pray for me” section of “Nerdy Prudes Must Die." Aside from just sounding incredible, it's a vitally important moment for Max’s character, especially as it comes right after “Go Go Nighthawks” and the scene in which Richie finally befriends the popular kids. As much as he claims to be above revenge, Max’s pain clearly shapes Richie’s torment in a very specific way. And it almost…makes me really feel for our literal monster?

Just look at the lyrics.

“Who will pray for me when my body’s gone?” is bad enough. Max has been gone for two weeks, and we get this whole sequence about how his classmates and “friends” just… don’t care. If anything, they’re happy he’s gone. As valid as their response is, there’s something incredibly lonely and horrifying about someone’s disappearance eliciting nothing but a shrug and a “fuck that guy” from those who knew them best. The people Max spent his childhood alongside have no grief to offer, no prayers for the vanished body. And then…

Well, and then we have “until another Richie comes along.” Obnoxious, nerdy Richie with his overactive sweat glands, who is so “unimportant” that Max kept him ground into dust for mere idle amusement. But suddenly Max is gone and all of his “friends” fill the vacancy by literally bringing Richie into their circle (football huddle). They befriend him because they can, they are kind to him because they want to be, they accept him with open hearts. As the person stepping into space left open by Max, it’s almost as if Richie is “another Max” who's come along, one very different from the first, and Max’s people really like the replacement better. That has to hurt.

And so Max puts Richie into his shoes, demanding that Richie wrestle with the same idea of insignificance that Max himself has just encountered. Will those who failed to pray for Max take time to pray for Richie? Who will be the next person added to the huddle in his stead? It’s interesting that Richie receives the most brutal and drawn-out death of anyone—he’s being punished not just for Max’s death or for being a “nerdy prude,” or even for defying Max’s social hierarchy, but for doing so in a way that makes him the face of everything Max has just learned he never really had.

Max spent his life tormenting classmates to make up for being tormented at home. The other kids deserve to feel the way they do about his absence, and the far kinder, gentler Richie deserved to live a long and happy life. But just like Max’s gleeful speech before his fall, like his attempts to protect Steph from the haunted house or his offer to carry Grace’s books, Max’s Act 1 finale moment of monstrous apotheosis ironically recalls the real, hurting person who lurks underneath.

And part of me can't help but just think “this poor kid.”

#hatchetfield #hatchetfield meta #nerdy prudes must die #nerdy prudes must die spoilers #npmd #npmd spoilers #Max Jagerman #richie lipschitz #don't worry I will always feel worse for Richie than I do for Max #these poor kids ya know

[disregardcanon]

stephanie lauter digging her heels in and saying "i'm not talking to cops without a lawyer present". like c'mon she's solomon lauter's daughter that's probably the 3rd thing she learned growing up. like she learned how to use the toilet she learned her abcs then she learned to say "i want my LAWYER!"

#hatchetfield #npmd #npmd meta #stephanie lauter #solomon lauter

[iambecomeahamburger]

Guys, guys, you won’t fucking believe this. I figured it out! So you know how we all theorised that because River was named River then the other three Monroe boys would be named after bodies of water as well? 

They fucking are, guys. The River Trent and the River Seaton are both in England. The River Jordan is in the Middle East. They’re all fucking rivers. 

Honestly, very iconic of my queen Linda.

#starkid #starkid meta #honey queen #nightmare time season 2 spoilers #Linda Monroe #River Monroe #Gerald Monroe #Trent Monroe #Jordan Monroe #Seaton Monroe #just tagging the entire Monroe fam #four beautiful blonde boys #honestly I'm a genius #and should be celebrated as such #you're welcome #iambecomeahamburger #hatchetfield #hatchetfield theories #yeah its big brain time