elyvorg
somewhat backwards
- Pronouns
- she/they
Thanks everyone for your reviews! I really enjoyed reading them and will get around to replying to them all at some point, I promise. However, I didn’t want to let the need to do that cause me to put off posting this other thing in here for even longer than I already have been.
Foregone Conclusion: the Musical
So, this is a… I dunno, a bonus feature? which I’ve been meaning to get around to posting in this thread at some point. (In fact, having an excuse to post this thing was literally the reason I started reposting Foregone Conclusion on TR, believe it or not.) This was inspired by some conversations on the TR Discord about hypothetical musical versions of our fics, and in particular by my friend Dragonfree, who is a nerd for analysing musicals and who did this herself with her own fic Morphic.
And, for anyone who’s seeing this and might be assuming I’m about to make a silly parody hijinks thing out of my very sad and depressing fic? Ohohoho, no, let me stop you there; I am deadly serious about this. Quoth the introduction of Dragonfree’s Morphic musical post, because she explains this better than I could:
And, see, all of this happens to be perfect for the kind of story Foregone Conclusion is. I honestly think that a musical format might be literally the best possible format to hypothetically tell this story in, better than even the prose fiction format I actually wrote it in. That's what compelled me to do this, and I went quite hard on it, as you'll see.
If it wasn’t already obvious, this summary of the hypothetical musical will contain spoilers for the entirety of the fic! No matter how curious you are about this concept, I highly recommend you do not read it until you’ve finished reading the fic itself, as I’m about to basically summarise the entire story here.
So, without further ado, the tracklist for Foregone Conclusion the musical!
Foregone Conclusion: the Musical
So, this is a… I dunno, a bonus feature? which I’ve been meaning to get around to posting in this thread at some point. (In fact, having an excuse to post this thing was literally the reason I started reposting Foregone Conclusion on TR, believe it or not.) This was inspired by some conversations on the TR Discord about hypothetical musical versions of our fics, and in particular by my friend Dragonfree, who is a nerd for analysing musicals and who did this herself with her own fic Morphic.
And, for anyone who’s seeing this and might be assuming I’m about to make a silly parody hijinks thing out of my very sad and depressing fic? Ohohoho, no, let me stop you there; I am deadly serious about this. Quoth the introduction of Dragonfree’s Morphic musical post, because she explains this better than I could:
And, see, all of this happens to be perfect for the kind of story Foregone Conclusion is. I honestly think that a musical format might be literally the best possible format to hypothetically tell this story in, better than even the prose fiction format I actually wrote it in. That's what compelled me to do this, and I went quite hard on it, as you'll see.
If it wasn’t already obvious, this summary of the hypothetical musical will contain spoilers for the entirety of the fic! No matter how curious you are about this concept, I highly recommend you do not read it until you’ve finished reading the fic itself, as I’m about to basically summarise the entire story here.
So, without further ado, the tracklist for Foregone Conclusion the musical!
(The musical is sung-through, meaning that everything happens in a song of some kind and there are no scenes with unsung dialogue between them.)
Act I
That’s The Way Things Are (Forsira, Leathra, Resten)
Forsira’s parents teach her about Them, about the inevitability of all Archopy being killed one day, and then get murdered. Certain discordant instruments/motifs are used during the murdery part that can then come up in other Act 1 songs to symbolise Forsira’s trauma about Sceptile. Also, from the Sceptile, after the murders when they see Forsira: “We don’t kill the children. That’s the way things are.” At the end, Forsira sings a few brief, sad lines about how she’s Alone.
Life Is Fun (Zathern, Azma, Forsira)
A montage song as Zathern meets Forsira and shows her around the sunset side. Contains a lot of That’s The Way Things Are, as well, as Zathern teaches her things about the world – most Sceptile are peaceful, Grovyle has a split evolution, he’s going to evolve into a Sceptile because his mum says so – but in a more upbeat and positive way. Featuring some Azma, who does some somewhat more sombre That’s The Way Things Are-ing at Forsira, and yet also affectionately agreeing with Zathern that yes, for now, for them, Life Is Fun. Forsira mostly just passively listens and asks a few questions as she’s dragged around by Zathern, but by the end she’s tentatively joining in and agreeing, in a more subdued harmony, that life is fun.
Nightmares (Azma, Forsira)
An Azma song, as she comforts Forsira about her nightmares of the past and hints that nightmares of the future are the ones to worry about – but not yet.
Changes (Zathern, Forsira, Raphyn)
Zathern is excited to evolve! Contains the bit where they find Raphyn harmlessly fainted, because I did that as deliberate foreshadowing to his death so damn right we’re keeping that kind of thing in the musical. Upbeat and positive about the idea of evolution, only some slight discord as Forsira evolves first and Zathern is overcome with jealousy for a bit, but that’s quickly resolved. Changes are good and exciting!
Old Comrades (Germane, Azma, Forsira)
Germane talks with Azma about her old comrades being killed off one by one. He sees the newly-evolved Forsira and kinda condescendingly tells her she should make that her only evolution if she has any sense, like him, because him staying in this form keeps him safe from Them.
He leaves, and Azma explains to Forsira that Germane is an old comrade of hers from back when she opposed Them; she sounds less confident about his staying-a-Grovyle tactic than he does but otherwise seems to regard him fondly, explaining that he can spy on Them for her. There’s a motif in here somewhere that I’ll call the Azma’s Activism motif, which’ll come up a few other times.
Changes (cont.)
Changes/Old Comrades would have to go together as one combined song on the soundtrack, because there’s another verse or so of Changes to finish it off here, as Zathern shows up evolved.
(I can’t reorder events so that Zathern evolves right after Forsira does and before she meets Germane, because if Zathern was in earshot for the Germane part, Azma wouldn’t talk about any of this stuff.)
Inner Predator (Azma, Zathern, Forsira)
Azma teaches them how to hunt. The words “inner predator” feel suspiciously squeezed into the lyrics they contain, like they’re too many syllables and another phrase would fit better. (The lines with it in probably don’t rhyme, but would do if you substituted “Monster Inside”.)
The Sunrise Side (Raphyn, Zathern, Forsira, Tharann)
Raphyn takes them on a rebellious teenage adventure. We get to see Zathern’s first encounter with Tharann in this musical format, because things aren’t restricted to Forsira’s POV here! That deserves to be covered. Tharann should get a motif, which starts out sounding vaguely sleazy but essentially positive and friendly, and will gradually degenerate into the most sinister and evil as it gets reprised.
Changes Reprise (Zathern, Forsira, Azma)
In which suddenly the changes are bad and uncomfortable and unwanted. Zathern evolves and creeps Forsira out, then finds Raphyn dead and breaks down and leaves (a sad reprise of Life’s (not) Fun, also Forsira gets some kind of “no don’t leave me” motif), then Forsira tells Azma about his departure (a brief hint of Inner Predator in the bit where Azma says she was out hunting to clear her head, and then some hints of Nightmares towards the end).
Alone Again (Forsira)
Forsira misses Zathern and prepares for her evolution and to break ties with Azma. Reprises and builds on the Alone part from the end of the first song. Maybe including some of her own Life’s (Not) Fun. Ends with a pretty direct reprise of That’s The Way Things Are as she evolves and knows this makes her a target now.
Act II
Catch Me If You Can (Tefiren)
Tefiren’s intro song! Starts with his battle with the Tropius as he playfully, boastfully wins the fight and evolves. Descends into bleak frantic terror for a single verse as he realises Verdan is about to kill him, then veers very abruptly back into the same gleeful confident tone as he realises he has wings. The words “catch me if you can” have exactly the same musical motif as “that’s the way things are” (but more upbeat, so one might not spot it at first), because Tefirenlogic. All Tefiren’s escapes and victories are inevitable and obvious and just a fact of life!
Distanced (Forsira, Draern, Zathern)
A song showcasing Forsira and Zathern’s lonely lives on either side of the island, missing each other’s company and not feeling properly connected with the rest of their own kind, for very different reasons. Features Draern for the Forsira part; this song could kind of be his motif. Some kind of Lies motif comes in at the end of Zathern’s part as he learns his mother hid the truth about his father.
Life’s A Game (Tefiren, Forsira, Draern)
Forsira meets Tefiren and he helps her escape Them! Suspiciously similar to Life Is Fun, but maybe with kinda different instruments to make it Tefiren-flavoured instead. Also with a lot of Catch Me If You Can as Tefiren brags about the inevitability of his escapes. Forsira’s “no don’t leave me” motif shows up as he refuses to let her stick around.
She goes back to the clearing, finds Draern, sings to him about how Tefiren taught her than life can be a game, life can be fun again, and Draern shoots back that Tefiren’s insane, introducing a new motif – a twisted version of the Distanced motif – that we’ll hear more of in a bit.
Here to Stay (Zathern, Tharann, Skorrhen, Karsa, Forsira, Tefiren)
A lengthy, multi-scene song covering all of Accepting. Probably the longest single song in the musical, and right at the midpoint of it.
Begins with Zathern meeting Tharann again and being introduced to his group of “friends”, meeting Karsa, figuring they seem all right and willing to accept him and maybe he’s finally found somewhere he can stay. Tharann’s motif is in here, still sounding relatively positive and welcoming.
Cut to Forsira, finding Tefiren again and asking to live with him, refusing to take no for an answer, insisting that she’s here to stay, Tefiren eventually gives up protesting and insists that if she’s going to be here to stay, she needs to learn how to use air blades.
Back to Zathern, he’s about to go on one of their hunts and is excited, knowing this is what real members of the group get to do, feeling like if he does this, it’s proof that he’s here to stay. The Inner Predator/Monster Inside motif returns for a bit here as Karsa advises him to let it out before the hunt begins, to make it easier. (Whenever a character’s taken over by the monster inside, their singing becomes a monotone chant with no melody to it.)
Back to Tefiren, we get his POV as he’s waiting for Forsira to fall asleep (his singing is non-diagetic and she can’t hear it), lengthily Tefirationalising away that she can’t be here to stay, that’s idiotic, why couldn’t she see that (probably featuring some Tefiren-flavoured That’s The Way Things Are motif) and then he flees once he figures she’s soundly asleep. Forsira hears him and wakes up, panics in verse about how he’s not here to stay with her after all (maybe her “no don’t leave me” motif shows up again), catches up to him and confronts him. He insists that no he wasn’t running away, of course he’s here to stay. (This has a bit of a desperate tone to it in the music, because now the audience knows that Tefiren doesn’t want to be.) They hide as they hear Them approach.
Sinister Monster Inside instrumental for a while as Zathern’s group chase down a different Archopy and he snaps back to himself and watches in horror as They kill them.
The main melody of the song becomes more ominous and helpless as Zathern is persuaded in turn by Tharann (his motif returns, but becomes more sinister), then Skorrhen, then Karsa, that he really is here to stay, and Zathern can’t do anything but accept it.
Insane (Arkesra, Forsira, Tefiren)
The two Tefiren scenes from Doubting, combined into one song that explores how strange and messed-up Tefiren is.
Tefiren kills prey without using the inner predator and shrugs it off when Forsira questions it. Forsira rationalises to herself that, okay, it’s a little odd, but it’s just a different way of doing things; it’s not like he broke a battling pact; it’s not like he’s insane.
Arkesra shows up to talk about Draern’s death; some bits of Distanced are reprised and inverted as she talks about their relationship. Then she shifts into insisting that Tefiren’s insane and Forsira’s halfway there herself. Then Arkesra gets suddenly killed – Tefiren’s “Sira, move!” is in there, as a non-sung line.
This segues into the Vileplume chase sequence (I had to cut the Tropius one to merge these two scenes). We still get the bit where Forsira suggests fighting Them because they’re not outnumbered for once and Tefiren tells her she’s insane for even thinking it.
Perhaps Forsira comments that Tefiren’s crazy as he leaps into the Vileplume horde, in a casually appreciative way like usual, but then kinda stops as she realises the full meaning of that word.
“Who stops flapping? Have you stopped flapping?” is very definitely a lyric, because I say so.
As Tefiren realises he’s fatally poisoned and Forsira offers to take a risk to go fetch a Pecha berry, Tefiren tells her again that she’s insane, but relents and lets her go. The focus switches, perhaps overlapping, between Tefiren, curled up and dying from poison, insisting to himself that risking your life for someone else is insane, and yet… (and yet, in that case, he’s glad she’s insane), and Forsira, questioning if Tefiren’s gone insane to try and tell her not to save him, still haunted by Arkesra’s words, but concluding that no, he told her to help in the end, he isn’t insane.
As Tefiren eats the berry and recovers, Forsira begins to bring up Arkesra, then drops it when Tefiren doesn’t seem to get the gravity of it. Tefiren changes the topic to some definitely-just-logical musing that this proves there is some value to her being here, and we get a brief Here to Stay motif, with Tefiren finally admitting for the first time that she’s here to stay.
Forget (Karsa, Zathern, Tharann, Germane, maybe Skorrhen)
Karsa teaches Zathern her go-to coping mechanism as we see his daily life hanging out among Them. A lot of it is positive and friendly, but occasionally things get mentioned that make Zathern uncomfortable, and every time, Karsa’s there, telling him to forget. Maybe slips into the Monster Inside melody for a bit as Zathern tries to insistently remind himself that being here makes it easier, makes it all not hurt.
Germane being there and spying for Them can be established in this song and provide a source of several of the uncomfortable topics, but by the end, Zathern’s singing along with Karsa about forgetting every bit of it. He’s fine here; he’s got friends, and his father, and he feels like he matters and is here to stay. It’s not hard to forget the rest.
Germane’s Betrayal (Germane, Skorrhen, Tharann)
(Is Germane the one doing the betraying, or the one being betrayed? Both, it turns out.)
At the end of Forget, Skorrhen and Tharann pull Germane aside into a private meeting. When questioned as to if he really doesn’t care about Azma, he insists – in the same melody in which Azma spoke fondly of his co-operation in Old Comrades - that of course he doesn’t, that Azma was stupid to let herself evolve and even stupider to try and actively oppose Them and her impending fate is no concern of his at all.
Then he realises Skorrhen and Tharann are about to kill him, and as he flees in terror he reprises the bit he sang to Forsira about how staying in this form was supposed to keep him safe, this isn’t supposed to be happening to him.
Act III
Nightmares Reprise (Azma)
Azma finds Germane’s dead body and realises what it means, for the Archopy in general, but also for her own personal nightmares.
For Our Futures (Forsira, Tefiren, Azma, Crowd)
A song about the Archopy’s decision to fight. (Also features a lot of “for the children”, with the same melody and rhythm as “for our futures”).
Starts with Forsira persuading Tefiren to come to the meeting, brushing off his protests by insisting it’s for the children, maybe with some lines about her own childhood in there. Hints of Insane in lines that are Forsira thinking to herself, because Tefiren coming to this will prove he isn’t.
The main part of the song is led by Azma (with occasional dismissive scoffing from Tefiren), rallying the crowd into a hopeful, heroic chant about fighting back, protecting their children and fighting for their futures. (Maybe it’s a variation on the Azma’s Activism motif?)
The crowd’s rallying chants begin to overlap with Tefiren singing lines about how insane they are, until he suddenly cuts off the crowd entirely by breaking out into a whole fanatical reprised chorus of Insane – deciding to fight Them, risking your life to save someone else, they’re all insane. After he flees, the whole crowd (except for Azma and Forsira) then do their own reprise of Insane, about Tefiren, for running away, for not caring about protecting the children. They’ve heard about this guy; he just proved he’s the sick freak they always knew he was. Maybe at the end it gets directed at Forsira – she’s the one who lives with him; is she insane, too? She leaves to follow Tefiren without answering them.
I Don’t Want to Die (Tefiren, Forsira)
In the cave at the cliffs, as Forsira sees Tefiren’s true self. Mostly a sad reprise of Catch Me If You Can (“I don’t want to die” has the same melody), also with some Insane, as Tefiren agrees that he’s insane and she shouldn’t want to stay with him, and then Here to Stay as Forsira stays for his sake anyway. A “live for today” lyrical motif first shows up here.
The Battle/Azma’s Despair (Skorrhen, Zathern, Karsa, Tharann, Azma, Crowd)
Begins with a sinister echo of For Our Futures (not those lyrics, but musically) as Skorrhen rallies the rest of Them to fight. Also some Monster Inside, because that’s how most of the Sceptile are going to cope with this.
Cut to Azma, with the final, fullest reprise of Nightmares as she waits for what she knows is coming and finally exposits in song why They did this to her. (There some hints of the Azma’s Activism motif here.)
Some For Our Futures and the sinister Them version clashing as the fight begins, then this moves into the background as Tharann confronts Azma. Perhaps chants of each can still be heard in between the “family” confrontation, the Archopy one getting feebler and being drowned out by the Them one as the battle progresses.
The confrontation has a lot of Monster Inside, as Zathern insists that this is easier for him this way – by “this way” he means joining Them, but that’s also what the monster inside is for – hopefully making it clear why Azma was afraid to call it that when teaching him. Also Tharann’s motif, the Azma’s Activism motif, the Lies motif, some lyrical echoing of “my life was a game to you?” (but not with the melody), probably some more Nightmares somewhere, maybe a very subtle, sad musical hint of Life Is Fun, because poor, poor Zathern.
Forget Reprise (Zathern, Karsa)
A lot less upbeat and more desperate than the original. Zathern and Karsa try to help each other cope with their increasingly horrible reality and the knowledge that it still isn’t over. The Monster Inside part isn’t here in this version. There’s some Here to Stay, because Karsa’s really the only reason Zathern’s still here at this point.
Life’s A Game/Life Is Fun Reprise (Forsira, Tefiren, Karsa, Zathern)
A very desperate, wishful tone to the reprise, as we switch between Forsira/Tefiren and Karsa/Zathern trying to cope as the end draws near. This time it’s Forsira largely leading Tefiren’s version as she helps prop up Tefiren’s defence mechanisms (some more “live for today”), and Karsa leading Zathern’s version as Zathern finally snaps that he doesn’t want to forget his old life. A unified line between both pairs something like bad things might come tomorrow, but for now, for today, [life is fun/life’s a game].
After the song crescendos to a big swelling double-duet of both pairs singing that (okay, not quite, Tefiren does not sing the part about bad things coming at all, he Cannot), things settle down into just Forsira and Tefiren in a quieter, lighthearted verse. She playfully tells him that, hey, the rain’s stopped, today’s a beautiful day, they should enjoy the sunshine and the flying while they can instead of hiding all the time like he keeps wanting to. She sings again, bad things might come tomorrow, but for now, for today, life’s a—
—and she’s abruptly cut off with a scream as one of Them grabs her. Immediate abrupt transition into the next song.
Today (Tefiren, Forsira, Zathern, Tharann, Crowd)
The song of the final climactic kill.
Tefiren’s frantic breakdown and bravest ever decision contains motifs from Catch Me If You Can/That’s The Way Things Are (he loves Forsira, he can’t let her die, and that’s just the way things are), Insane, and a big focus on why does it have to be *today*?
The rest of Them chant as they attack Tefiren: today’s the day it’s over, today’s the day they win, today’s the day they catch the one who can’t be caught. Verdan’s been around as a minor character getting constantly outsmarted by Tefiren; he gets a few solo lines in this bit. It’s interspersed with Tefiren’s completely-no-longer-sung screams of desperation and pain and run, Sira, please
There’s some lines from Forsira here about how she knows she should run but she’s frozen in horror, unable to look away from Tefiren’s final fight, knowing They’re only ignoring her because he’s the one who’s hard to catch, not her.
Then Tharann, with the most twisted and evil version of his motif, singing about his frustration that Zathern didn’t kill Azma, but still, there’s two more chances left, he’ll complete his revenge and get Zathern to finally kill someone, today, today’s the day he’ll win at last.
Forsira and Zathern have a desperate tragic counterpoint duet as she asks him what are you doing here? and all his justifications fall apart now that Karsa’s dead, the whole thing backed with Their sinister chant of today’s the day it’s over, today’s the day we win; they do not care about the estranged best friend drama going on here and just want the murder to happen already. (also still constantly interspersed with a terrified, broken Tefiren just desperately telling Sira to run)
(Some of the lost pressured Sceptile are instead chanting today’s the day it’s over, today’s the day we’re *free*, because they so badly don’t want to be stuck in this horrible murder cult any longer)
Alone Again, Forever (Forsira)
Forsira’s swan song, including a sad reprise of Life’s a Game as she mourns Tefiren and concludes the only way to win.
Don’t Forget (Zathern)
Zathern’s final scene, another Forget reprise with a sombre but more hopeful tone, also with some references to Life’s (Not) Fun. Maybe ends on some That’s The Way Things Were – there were Archopy, they did exist, and he won’t forget it.
Act I
That’s The Way Things Are (Forsira, Leathra, Resten)
Forsira’s parents teach her about Them, about the inevitability of all Archopy being killed one day, and then get murdered. Certain discordant instruments/motifs are used during the murdery part that can then come up in other Act 1 songs to symbolise Forsira’s trauma about Sceptile. Also, from the Sceptile, after the murders when they see Forsira: “We don’t kill the children. That’s the way things are.” At the end, Forsira sings a few brief, sad lines about how she’s Alone.
Life Is Fun (Zathern, Azma, Forsira)
A montage song as Zathern meets Forsira and shows her around the sunset side. Contains a lot of That’s The Way Things Are, as well, as Zathern teaches her things about the world – most Sceptile are peaceful, Grovyle has a split evolution, he’s going to evolve into a Sceptile because his mum says so – but in a more upbeat and positive way. Featuring some Azma, who does some somewhat more sombre That’s The Way Things Are-ing at Forsira, and yet also affectionately agreeing with Zathern that yes, for now, for them, Life Is Fun. Forsira mostly just passively listens and asks a few questions as she’s dragged around by Zathern, but by the end she’s tentatively joining in and agreeing, in a more subdued harmony, that life is fun.
Nightmares (Azma, Forsira)
An Azma song, as she comforts Forsira about her nightmares of the past and hints that nightmares of the future are the ones to worry about – but not yet.
Changes (Zathern, Forsira, Raphyn)
Zathern is excited to evolve! Contains the bit where they find Raphyn harmlessly fainted, because I did that as deliberate foreshadowing to his death so damn right we’re keeping that kind of thing in the musical. Upbeat and positive about the idea of evolution, only some slight discord as Forsira evolves first and Zathern is overcome with jealousy for a bit, but that’s quickly resolved. Changes are good and exciting!
Old Comrades (Germane, Azma, Forsira)
Germane talks with Azma about her old comrades being killed off one by one. He sees the newly-evolved Forsira and kinda condescendingly tells her she should make that her only evolution if she has any sense, like him, because him staying in this form keeps him safe from Them.
He leaves, and Azma explains to Forsira that Germane is an old comrade of hers from back when she opposed Them; she sounds less confident about his staying-a-Grovyle tactic than he does but otherwise seems to regard him fondly, explaining that he can spy on Them for her. There’s a motif in here somewhere that I’ll call the Azma’s Activism motif, which’ll come up a few other times.
Changes (cont.)
Changes/Old Comrades would have to go together as one combined song on the soundtrack, because there’s another verse or so of Changes to finish it off here, as Zathern shows up evolved.
(I can’t reorder events so that Zathern evolves right after Forsira does and before she meets Germane, because if Zathern was in earshot for the Germane part, Azma wouldn’t talk about any of this stuff.)
Inner Predator (Azma, Zathern, Forsira)
Azma teaches them how to hunt. The words “inner predator” feel suspiciously squeezed into the lyrics they contain, like they’re too many syllables and another phrase would fit better. (The lines with it in probably don’t rhyme, but would do if you substituted “Monster Inside”.)
The Sunrise Side (Raphyn, Zathern, Forsira, Tharann)
Raphyn takes them on a rebellious teenage adventure. We get to see Zathern’s first encounter with Tharann in this musical format, because things aren’t restricted to Forsira’s POV here! That deserves to be covered. Tharann should get a motif, which starts out sounding vaguely sleazy but essentially positive and friendly, and will gradually degenerate into the most sinister and evil as it gets reprised.
Changes Reprise (Zathern, Forsira, Azma)
In which suddenly the changes are bad and uncomfortable and unwanted. Zathern evolves and creeps Forsira out, then finds Raphyn dead and breaks down and leaves (a sad reprise of Life’s (not) Fun, also Forsira gets some kind of “no don’t leave me” motif), then Forsira tells Azma about his departure (a brief hint of Inner Predator in the bit where Azma says she was out hunting to clear her head, and then some hints of Nightmares towards the end).
Alone Again (Forsira)
Forsira misses Zathern and prepares for her evolution and to break ties with Azma. Reprises and builds on the Alone part from the end of the first song. Maybe including some of her own Life’s (Not) Fun. Ends with a pretty direct reprise of That’s The Way Things Are as she evolves and knows this makes her a target now.
Act II
Catch Me If You Can (Tefiren)
Tefiren’s intro song! Starts with his battle with the Tropius as he playfully, boastfully wins the fight and evolves. Descends into bleak frantic terror for a single verse as he realises Verdan is about to kill him, then veers very abruptly back into the same gleeful confident tone as he realises he has wings. The words “catch me if you can” have exactly the same musical motif as “that’s the way things are” (but more upbeat, so one might not spot it at first), because Tefirenlogic. All Tefiren’s escapes and victories are inevitable and obvious and just a fact of life!
Distanced (Forsira, Draern, Zathern)
A song showcasing Forsira and Zathern’s lonely lives on either side of the island, missing each other’s company and not feeling properly connected with the rest of their own kind, for very different reasons. Features Draern for the Forsira part; this song could kind of be his motif. Some kind of Lies motif comes in at the end of Zathern’s part as he learns his mother hid the truth about his father.
Life’s A Game (Tefiren, Forsira, Draern)
Forsira meets Tefiren and he helps her escape Them! Suspiciously similar to Life Is Fun, but maybe with kinda different instruments to make it Tefiren-flavoured instead. Also with a lot of Catch Me If You Can as Tefiren brags about the inevitability of his escapes. Forsira’s “no don’t leave me” motif shows up as he refuses to let her stick around.
She goes back to the clearing, finds Draern, sings to him about how Tefiren taught her than life can be a game, life can be fun again, and Draern shoots back that Tefiren’s insane, introducing a new motif – a twisted version of the Distanced motif – that we’ll hear more of in a bit.
Here to Stay (Zathern, Tharann, Skorrhen, Karsa, Forsira, Tefiren)
A lengthy, multi-scene song covering all of Accepting. Probably the longest single song in the musical, and right at the midpoint of it.
Begins with Zathern meeting Tharann again and being introduced to his group of “friends”, meeting Karsa, figuring they seem all right and willing to accept him and maybe he’s finally found somewhere he can stay. Tharann’s motif is in here, still sounding relatively positive and welcoming.
Cut to Forsira, finding Tefiren again and asking to live with him, refusing to take no for an answer, insisting that she’s here to stay, Tefiren eventually gives up protesting and insists that if she’s going to be here to stay, she needs to learn how to use air blades.
Back to Zathern, he’s about to go on one of their hunts and is excited, knowing this is what real members of the group get to do, feeling like if he does this, it’s proof that he’s here to stay. The Inner Predator/Monster Inside motif returns for a bit here as Karsa advises him to let it out before the hunt begins, to make it easier. (Whenever a character’s taken over by the monster inside, their singing becomes a monotone chant with no melody to it.)
Back to Tefiren, we get his POV as he’s waiting for Forsira to fall asleep (his singing is non-diagetic and she can’t hear it), lengthily Tefirationalising away that she can’t be here to stay, that’s idiotic, why couldn’t she see that (probably featuring some Tefiren-flavoured That’s The Way Things Are motif) and then he flees once he figures she’s soundly asleep. Forsira hears him and wakes up, panics in verse about how he’s not here to stay with her after all (maybe her “no don’t leave me” motif shows up again), catches up to him and confronts him. He insists that no he wasn’t running away, of course he’s here to stay. (This has a bit of a desperate tone to it in the music, because now the audience knows that Tefiren doesn’t want to be.) They hide as they hear Them approach.
Sinister Monster Inside instrumental for a while as Zathern’s group chase down a different Archopy and he snaps back to himself and watches in horror as They kill them.
The main melody of the song becomes more ominous and helpless as Zathern is persuaded in turn by Tharann (his motif returns, but becomes more sinister), then Skorrhen, then Karsa, that he really is here to stay, and Zathern can’t do anything but accept it.
Insane (Arkesra, Forsira, Tefiren)
The two Tefiren scenes from Doubting, combined into one song that explores how strange and messed-up Tefiren is.
Tefiren kills prey without using the inner predator and shrugs it off when Forsira questions it. Forsira rationalises to herself that, okay, it’s a little odd, but it’s just a different way of doing things; it’s not like he broke a battling pact; it’s not like he’s insane.
Arkesra shows up to talk about Draern’s death; some bits of Distanced are reprised and inverted as she talks about their relationship. Then she shifts into insisting that Tefiren’s insane and Forsira’s halfway there herself. Then Arkesra gets suddenly killed – Tefiren’s “Sira, move!” is in there, as a non-sung line.
This segues into the Vileplume chase sequence (I had to cut the Tropius one to merge these two scenes). We still get the bit where Forsira suggests fighting Them because they’re not outnumbered for once and Tefiren tells her she’s insane for even thinking it.
Perhaps Forsira comments that Tefiren’s crazy as he leaps into the Vileplume horde, in a casually appreciative way like usual, but then kinda stops as she realises the full meaning of that word.
“Who stops flapping? Have you stopped flapping?” is very definitely a lyric, because I say so.
As Tefiren realises he’s fatally poisoned and Forsira offers to take a risk to go fetch a Pecha berry, Tefiren tells her again that she’s insane, but relents and lets her go. The focus switches, perhaps overlapping, between Tefiren, curled up and dying from poison, insisting to himself that risking your life for someone else is insane, and yet… (and yet, in that case, he’s glad she’s insane), and Forsira, questioning if Tefiren’s gone insane to try and tell her not to save him, still haunted by Arkesra’s words, but concluding that no, he told her to help in the end, he isn’t insane.
As Tefiren eats the berry and recovers, Forsira begins to bring up Arkesra, then drops it when Tefiren doesn’t seem to get the gravity of it. Tefiren changes the topic to some definitely-just-logical musing that this proves there is some value to her being here, and we get a brief Here to Stay motif, with Tefiren finally admitting for the first time that she’s here to stay.
Forget (Karsa, Zathern, Tharann, Germane, maybe Skorrhen)
Karsa teaches Zathern her go-to coping mechanism as we see his daily life hanging out among Them. A lot of it is positive and friendly, but occasionally things get mentioned that make Zathern uncomfortable, and every time, Karsa’s there, telling him to forget. Maybe slips into the Monster Inside melody for a bit as Zathern tries to insistently remind himself that being here makes it easier, makes it all not hurt.
Germane being there and spying for Them can be established in this song and provide a source of several of the uncomfortable topics, but by the end, Zathern’s singing along with Karsa about forgetting every bit of it. He’s fine here; he’s got friends, and his father, and he feels like he matters and is here to stay. It’s not hard to forget the rest.
Germane’s Betrayal (Germane, Skorrhen, Tharann)
(Is Germane the one doing the betraying, or the one being betrayed? Both, it turns out.)
At the end of Forget, Skorrhen and Tharann pull Germane aside into a private meeting. When questioned as to if he really doesn’t care about Azma, he insists – in the same melody in which Azma spoke fondly of his co-operation in Old Comrades - that of course he doesn’t, that Azma was stupid to let herself evolve and even stupider to try and actively oppose Them and her impending fate is no concern of his at all.
Then he realises Skorrhen and Tharann are about to kill him, and as he flees in terror he reprises the bit he sang to Forsira about how staying in this form was supposed to keep him safe, this isn’t supposed to be happening to him.
Act III
Nightmares Reprise (Azma)
Azma finds Germane’s dead body and realises what it means, for the Archopy in general, but also for her own personal nightmares.
For Our Futures (Forsira, Tefiren, Azma, Crowd)
A song about the Archopy’s decision to fight. (Also features a lot of “for the children”, with the same melody and rhythm as “for our futures”).
Starts with Forsira persuading Tefiren to come to the meeting, brushing off his protests by insisting it’s for the children, maybe with some lines about her own childhood in there. Hints of Insane in lines that are Forsira thinking to herself, because Tefiren coming to this will prove he isn’t.
The main part of the song is led by Azma (with occasional dismissive scoffing from Tefiren), rallying the crowd into a hopeful, heroic chant about fighting back, protecting their children and fighting for their futures. (Maybe it’s a variation on the Azma’s Activism motif?)
The crowd’s rallying chants begin to overlap with Tefiren singing lines about how insane they are, until he suddenly cuts off the crowd entirely by breaking out into a whole fanatical reprised chorus of Insane – deciding to fight Them, risking your life to save someone else, they’re all insane. After he flees, the whole crowd (except for Azma and Forsira) then do their own reprise of Insane, about Tefiren, for running away, for not caring about protecting the children. They’ve heard about this guy; he just proved he’s the sick freak they always knew he was. Maybe at the end it gets directed at Forsira – she’s the one who lives with him; is she insane, too? She leaves to follow Tefiren without answering them.
I Don’t Want to Die (Tefiren, Forsira)
In the cave at the cliffs, as Forsira sees Tefiren’s true self. Mostly a sad reprise of Catch Me If You Can (“I don’t want to die” has the same melody), also with some Insane, as Tefiren agrees that he’s insane and she shouldn’t want to stay with him, and then Here to Stay as Forsira stays for his sake anyway. A “live for today” lyrical motif first shows up here.
The Battle/Azma’s Despair (Skorrhen, Zathern, Karsa, Tharann, Azma, Crowd)
Begins with a sinister echo of For Our Futures (not those lyrics, but musically) as Skorrhen rallies the rest of Them to fight. Also some Monster Inside, because that’s how most of the Sceptile are going to cope with this.
Cut to Azma, with the final, fullest reprise of Nightmares as she waits for what she knows is coming and finally exposits in song why They did this to her. (There some hints of the Azma’s Activism motif here.)
Some For Our Futures and the sinister Them version clashing as the fight begins, then this moves into the background as Tharann confronts Azma. Perhaps chants of each can still be heard in between the “family” confrontation, the Archopy one getting feebler and being drowned out by the Them one as the battle progresses.
The confrontation has a lot of Monster Inside, as Zathern insists that this is easier for him this way – by “this way” he means joining Them, but that’s also what the monster inside is for – hopefully making it clear why Azma was afraid to call it that when teaching him. Also Tharann’s motif, the Azma’s Activism motif, the Lies motif, some lyrical echoing of “my life was a game to you?” (but not with the melody), probably some more Nightmares somewhere, maybe a very subtle, sad musical hint of Life Is Fun, because poor, poor Zathern.
Forget Reprise (Zathern, Karsa)
A lot less upbeat and more desperate than the original. Zathern and Karsa try to help each other cope with their increasingly horrible reality and the knowledge that it still isn’t over. The Monster Inside part isn’t here in this version. There’s some Here to Stay, because Karsa’s really the only reason Zathern’s still here at this point.
Life’s A Game/Life Is Fun Reprise (Forsira, Tefiren, Karsa, Zathern)
A very desperate, wishful tone to the reprise, as we switch between Forsira/Tefiren and Karsa/Zathern trying to cope as the end draws near. This time it’s Forsira largely leading Tefiren’s version as she helps prop up Tefiren’s defence mechanisms (some more “live for today”), and Karsa leading Zathern’s version as Zathern finally snaps that he doesn’t want to forget his old life. A unified line between both pairs something like bad things might come tomorrow, but for now, for today, [life is fun/life’s a game].
After the song crescendos to a big swelling double-duet of both pairs singing that (okay, not quite, Tefiren does not sing the part about bad things coming at all, he Cannot), things settle down into just Forsira and Tefiren in a quieter, lighthearted verse. She playfully tells him that, hey, the rain’s stopped, today’s a beautiful day, they should enjoy the sunshine and the flying while they can instead of hiding all the time like he keeps wanting to. She sings again, bad things might come tomorrow, but for now, for today, life’s a—
—and she’s abruptly cut off with a scream as one of Them grabs her. Immediate abrupt transition into the next song.
Today (Tefiren, Forsira, Zathern, Tharann, Crowd)
The song of the final climactic kill.
Tefiren’s frantic breakdown and bravest ever decision contains motifs from Catch Me If You Can/That’s The Way Things Are (he loves Forsira, he can’t let her die, and that’s just the way things are), Insane, and a big focus on why does it have to be *today*?
The rest of Them chant as they attack Tefiren: today’s the day it’s over, today’s the day they win, today’s the day they catch the one who can’t be caught. Verdan’s been around as a minor character getting constantly outsmarted by Tefiren; he gets a few solo lines in this bit. It’s interspersed with Tefiren’s completely-no-longer-sung screams of desperation and pain and run, Sira, please
There’s some lines from Forsira here about how she knows she should run but she’s frozen in horror, unable to look away from Tefiren’s final fight, knowing They’re only ignoring her because he’s the one who’s hard to catch, not her.
Then Tharann, with the most twisted and evil version of his motif, singing about his frustration that Zathern didn’t kill Azma, but still, there’s two more chances left, he’ll complete his revenge and get Zathern to finally kill someone, today, today’s the day he’ll win at last.
Forsira and Zathern have a desperate tragic counterpoint duet as she asks him what are you doing here? and all his justifications fall apart now that Karsa’s dead, the whole thing backed with Their sinister chant of today’s the day it’s over, today’s the day we win; they do not care about the estranged best friend drama going on here and just want the murder to happen already. (also still constantly interspersed with a terrified, broken Tefiren just desperately telling Sira to run)
(Some of the lost pressured Sceptile are instead chanting today’s the day it’s over, today’s the day we’re *free*, because they so badly don’t want to be stuck in this horrible murder cult any longer)
Alone Again, Forever (Forsira)
Forsira’s swan song, including a sad reprise of Life’s a Game as she mourns Tefiren and concludes the only way to win.
Don’t Forget (Zathern)
Zathern’s final scene, another Forget reprise with a sombre but more hopeful tone, also with some references to Life’s (Not) Fun. Maybe ends on some That’s The Way Things Were – there were Archopy, they did exist, and he won’t forget it.