#m-azing

If you weren’t aware that there was a Howl’s Musical, here ya go. Go throw money at this production company and hope they release an album or a recording because the show was honestly fucking perfect. We were in the front row and all five of us flailed so hard that the cast thanked us specifically “for our enthusiasm and energy” after the show. 

This Sophie, played by Seattle actress Sara Porkalob, is your new god. 

She has micro-expressions down to an absolute art and the best comedic timing I’ve ever personally witnessed. She exists and was the perfect Sophie and now you know. You’re welcome.

Sidenote but the night we saw it Howl was wearing a NEON PINK WIG and SPRAY PAINTED SILVER JEANS for almost the entire show and NO ONE will ever be a better Howl tbh.

And Lettie and Martha were also great! The entire cast was great! Their physicality on stage was unbelievable!! The writing was superb!!! I can never see another musical as long as I live because of how perfect this one was!!!!!

You’re welcome. 

ETA: you can listen to some of the songs here on the composer’s youtube!! Give him some love! And support his patreon!

So originally this part wasn’t in the fic at all - I was trying to figure out how to incorporate one more Anya but I wasn’t sure what age she should be, and @artificialities suggested old Anya, I thought that was a great idea. All of the other Anyas appear physically at some point in the show itself, and the images of them interacting with each other was what inspired the fic. But those Anyas are all ghosts, memories of difficult things in the past, and I thought it would be nice for someone who suffered so much in canon to have the opportunity to see that everything is actually going to be okay. 

I love clothes and costume design and fashion as shorthand/embellishment on emotion (AS YOU KNOW VERY WELL) and another thing that inspired this portion was the costume changes they made. Anya now wears The Blue Dress, which in person is one of the most beautiful items of clothing I’ve ever seen for real, in the original production she’s in this, and my hatred of that dress is Lily’s hatred of that dress. (Marie said it looked like an undercooked chicken, that’s her joke, thanks). 

There was a behind the scenes interview with Christy Altomare where she described putting on Anya’s brown coat as making her feel brave and protected. She really hasn’t had to BE anyone yet, she’s just kind of doing what other people tell her a lot of the time, and I think to survive that you have to wall yourself off and blend into whatever situation you are thrown into. I wanted her to be able to put down that survival mechanism, but who can really understand that who she’s around? She gets out ahead of her friends and grandmother in that way.

So like 5 years ago @m-azing got me into the Hadestown musical and it just sort of. Spiraled from there. One Orpheus and Eurydice honors thesis, one off-Broadway show, and many hours of listening to every possible recording later, I created this project as a graduation present for MJ. It’s a true labor of love, for her and for this incredible musical

i havent found one

Mer: do they love each other? absolutely

but

without a third person there, it's bad

MJ: i think keith and pidge could live in the same apartment for 3 months and not realize the other is there

Mer: they're perfect roommates, actually

MJ: Pidge is up all night in her room and Keith gets up at 5 am to jog

Hunk leaves to visit his grandparents and they both get takeout and immediately throw it out so they dont notice each others garbage from the same restuarant

Mer: every once in a while dr. and dr. holt mail them a box of vegetables they let rot

MJ: one day Pidge finally wakes up before 2 pm and decides to watch a movie in the living room for a change and Keith is there and they both scream

Mer: they don't know that when shiro comes over he vacuums for them

keith: "i thought that was the noise from your computer"

Mer: i can't fucking believe allura is walking around in fucking 18th century mourning attire all the time

the girl!!!!!! is so much!!!!!

MJ: i cant fucking

im looking at all corners of my room because

one them might be a camera for the office

wow so i cant believe someone finally surpassed keith for being Most Extra About Shiro

she won. she won that game.

keith: i'm going to pilot the black lion like shiro wanted

allura, giving queen victoria a fucking run for her moeny: you are like little baby. watch this

also im sorry im laughing at

pink funerals

that's a thing now. that's a real thing. wait HER WHOLE CAPE IS PINK ON THE INSIDE WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

Mer: #death

MJ: HAS ALLURA BEEN THE REAL GOTH THIS WHOLE TIME

Mer: we knew she had the personality but she crossed the sartorial line too

MJ: jesus christ since episode 1 she's been in half-mourning

this opens up like 9485739035867394856 doors for my brain

Mer: so with blue being the color of family and celebration you made the exact right call

MJ: holy mother of fuck

i did????

i did

you have no idea the self restraint im suing to not find

every screencap from her s1 flashback

to see when she started wearing pink

Mer: literally born with pink markings on her face, she couldn't escape her goth destiny

MJ: i cant believe bpr is now a narrative about allura finally moving on both from her goth phase and from her stagnation over mourning old altea

Mer: you can also fanwank it that the blue lion is the fun, friendly one because of that association

MJ: it's midnight thirty and here i am going to sort every color by altean feelings

Mer: did allura look at shiro and go oh, he seems fun

MJ: SLJHFGSDFGHOSDIUFHGOISDHFGLKSJFHG

OH MY GOD IM LITERALLY GOING TO CHOKE

"what a peppy young man, seems like he'd be good for leading morale"

Mer: he'll bounce back just fine!

Mer: iirc, victorian mourning moved from black to dark purple to lighter purple, to normal colors?

so i think altean mourning moves from bright fuchsia pinks to lighter pinks and then back through purples and into blue finally

MJ: ………………………………the futch scale

Mer: yes

sorry, it's canon

nah that’s very normal anxiety and you could def see a therapist about it if you so chose! big hugs buddy <3