#hadestown brain dump

[readingforaneternity]

“It's an old tale from way back when

And we're gonna sing it again and again

We're gonna sing, we're gonna sing…

…We’re gonna sing it again.”

Hadestown is told through the practice of Oral Tradition. It is sung to an audience, and despite it being a sad song, we continue to sing this song. Inspiring others to have it told to them.

I’ve always loved songs/stories that end the way it begins. Hadestown does this effortlessly. But what really butters my bread is this idea of what this means in terms of the various actors.

It’s common knowledge that every person adds their own twist to a character their acting. Who we are blends into the characters we play.

So with the various actors who play Orpheus, Hades, Persephone, Eurydice, Hermes, the Fates, and the Workers, something is added to the story.

Myths oftentimes change. Things get forgotten and replaced. But the core of the story always stays the same. It’s how cultures have different versions of the same stories.

Singing the song of Hadestown “again and again,” allows for this exchange of things being added and forgotten with every new actor.

This is just a thought vomit on Hadestown and the correlation of Oral Traditions and how this leads to a bigger impact with every listen and new actor.

[kindred-spirit-93]

salutations of peace!

welcome to this blog dedicated to the many, many thoughts wondering in the expansive meadows of my inner mind. we have:

fandom rambles

OC galore and random lore dumps

deep life thoughts TM

excerpts of books ill never write

memes, awful puns, wordplay my beloved, rants about anything and everything

music and art and language appreciation

vivid descriptions of things that would put ebony dark'ness dementia raven way to shame

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so feel free to sit back with some snacks and watch me as i take apart my mind thought by thought and have epiphanies and shit :)

*:･ﾟ✧ but before all that, a few things:

Memento Vivere, is latin for remember to live. you may be familiar with its more morbid counterpart, Memento Mori, remember you must die. i sometimes have to remind myself to stop and live, to really smell the roses & appreciate my short existence on this spinning rock in space. this blog is my escape, my breath of fresh air, my cup of mint earl grey on a rainy january morning.

my pfp is a funny twist on a dua in arabic that translates to: "oh Allah, who lifts the heavens, lift (raise) my marks." which is very faithful to the theme of this blog & my life lol.

main @lemedstudent2021 and oc blog @bright-side-of-the-moon feel free to drop by for a chat here there and everywhere ;)

*:･ﾟ✧ a lil about me:

hijabi, jordanian, dont have social anxiety; social anxiety has me, sleep deprived, herbal teas, psychiatry, procrastinating af

medical student, full time and life long learner, salty snacks are better than sweet treats there i said it, strawberry milk supremacy

chaotic academia aesthetic, cats, existential (and assorted) crises, art on my lecture notes, atp i have more wips than neurons

current hyperfixations & interests: greek mythology (currently reading the iliad!), epic the musical, hadestown, paris the musical

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if i remember anything ill add it later, for now bring your marshmellows were making s'mores on the dumpsterfire that is life

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--

i will eventually edit this and add tags i use for stuff & a masterlist for all my shenanigans. tysm for reading this far lol and enjoy ur life ig :D

[smieska]

My musical addled brain and Dracula addled brain are chatting and I'm just seeing so many connections and FFFFF god I wish to draw everything.. but instead I'll just mildly point things out in a stupid brain dump thing ughhfh I'm sorry I'm not very eloquent with my words

Hadestown

The 3 Fates obviously are excellent for the 3 Brides, but especially their song 'Nothing Changes'

Why the struggle, why the strain? Why make trouble? Why make scenes? Why go against the grain? Why swim upstream?

It ain’t, it ain’t, it ain’t no use You’re bound, you’re bound, you’re bound to lose What’s done, what’s done, what’s done is done That’s the way the river runs

So why get wet? Why break a sweat? Why waste your precious breath? Why beat your handsome brow? Nothing changes Nothing changes Nothing changes anyhow

Something about 'His Kiss, the Riot' feels so Dracula to me because of the way he spins this almost incantation to Jonathan as he first arrives at the castle and he slowly starts to go mad.

Only one thing to be done Let them think that they have won Let them leave together Under one condition: Orpheus, the undersigned Shall not turn to look behind She’s out of sight And he’s out of his mind

Every coward seems courageous In the safety of the crowd Bravery can be contagious When the band is playing loud Nothing makes a man so bold As a woman’s smile and a hand to hold But all alone his blood runs thin And doubt comes… Doubt comes in

And just the whole "Doubt Comes In" song is like .. JUST…. Very Jonathan trying to keep his wits about him (by thinking of Mina) and the brides antagonizing him???? IDK MAN I'm just a simple peasant who enjoys musicals and blorbos being tormented

and I'm talking about the original Doubt Comes In lyrics from 2017, not the Broadway version.

[FATES] Doubt comes in And strips the paint Doubt comes in And turns the wine Doubt comes in and leaves a trace Of vinegar and turpentine

[FATES and ORPHEUS] Where are you? Where are you now?

[FATES] Doubt comes in And kills the lights Doubt comes in And chills the air

[ORPHEUS] Doubt comes in and all falls silent It’s as though you aren’t there

[FATES and ORPHEUS] Where are you? Where are you now?

[EURYDICE] Orpheus, You’re shivering Is it cold or fear? Just keep singing The coldest night Of the coldest year Comes right before the spring

[FATES] Doubt comes in With tricky fingers Doubt comes in With fickle tongues

[ORPHEUS] Doubt comes in and my heart falters And forgets the songs it sung

[FATES and ORPHEUS] Where are you? Where are you now?

[EURYDICE] Orpheus, Hold on, hold on tight It won’t be long ’cause the darkest hour Of the darkest night Comes right before the dawn-

[itskyleeyo]

hadestown brain dump

SPOILERS FOR HADESTOWN/THE STORY OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE

hadestown is literally my favorite musical its literally so good. i have so much to talk about my brain is buzzing with information. please appreciate me geeking out cause i'm in love with everything about this. also i'm talking specifically about the original broadway cast recording bc i haven't listened to any other version.

the vocal contrast. i could easily post solely about their individual voices, but for now its about everyone together. i'm not sure if this was done on purpose, or truly by coincidence, but it is absolutely captivating. a majority of the main cast has deep/raspy voices except reeve and eva (who play orpheus and eurydice). it really makes reeve and eva stand out, especially when they're singing against the other cast members, which happens often. it just sounds so nice and it brings me much joy.

the fates. i mean, duh. the concept. the energy. the vocals. there's nothing more to say about these queens.

the wind. i'm such a bitch for repetitive themes so there's gonna be a lot of these. the ways this is written, the wind almost appears to be an entire character in itself. it adds a whole layer of mystery to the story.

andre de shields. this man is literally perfect and i do not take criticism. he carries this entire damn show on his back. his energy and vibe are unmatched.

the reprises. dear god am i in love with reprises. they're so good and for what? everything falling apart because of the things that have previously built it up? please. destroy me. make me fall apart mentally and emotionally. the concept of a reprise is eerily similar to a lot of real life relationships. the beauty and accuracy of witnessing the downfall of someone/thing you love is often taken for granted in the musical world. (by that i mean no one talks about them even tho they're so important to the show??) idk the concept of this big happy thing doing a 180 and becoming something everyone dreads tears my heart into pieces and i fucking love it.

i have so much more to talk about but i struggle to translate my thoughts and feelings into coherent sentences, so this is all for now. i need time so that my brain can function properly. definitely not done talking about hadestown tho.

[everyones-internet-little-sis]

I’ve been writing some quotes on index cards. When I have all the ones I want I’ll crop them and put them on my wall. Here are a few I’ve made so far

[gatherround]

Just saw Hadestour! ask me questions about it!

[helloyourscorpion]

ohhhhh i love this!! brain dump incoming!!!

1. a lot of the musical theatre fans i knew in high school were the smart, quiet ones and if artem doesn’t fit that bill–

no but seriously, musical stan artem makes so much sense because he canonically loves to analyze stories and nitpick details, and musicals are the perfect medium for this. he probably pores over those librettos with annotations by the creators; that nerd.

2. when i picture artem singing, i immediately think of derek klena because his voice is so regal and also kind of similar to chris hackney’s, who’s personally my bet for artem in case of an english dub, but i digress. can we get artem wing belting my petersburg in the shower please!!! or better yet, you shine from carrie–

3. i love zak for bringing this up because artem would definitely identify with this iteration of orpheus!! they go through similar journeys of rude awakenings where they both start out as hopeful and optimistic about the world (artem being canonically dedicated to using law to pursue justice despite how much corruption there is in the system) only to become jaded because of circumstance (definitely don’t picture artem having a breakdown while listening to if it’s true, just don’t). but at the end, the message is still the same isn’t it? “see how the world could be in spite of the way that it is”. and isn’t that beautiful?

also, he’s a hopeless romantic and probably secretly wishes he was as straightforward with his affection as orpheus was. hmmmm, would artem turn around if he were orpheus…?

anyway, if mockingbird vaguely trauma dumps in his rave review of hadestown, stellis just rolls with it with mild concern.

that is all!!!!

hello and welcome back to sam's rambles, a series in which i shall ramble

let's take todays (and, every days if i'm being completely honest) subject: sir artem wing

now, canonically, artem is pretty good at singing. hes had classical training and he's been a pretty big fan of dramas, so let me pose to you some non canonical yet probable scenarios:

1. Artem Wing being Really Into Musicals

I mean, if you're immersed in learning things about music and drama, i'm pretty sure you'll stumble into musicals eventually. so aside from being kind of a loner in high school, he was most likely a theater kid. and i can see him putting on little musicals in his room.

2. He sings while he cooks/showers

I feel like this one is very mundane and domestic but please think about this: imagine any artem ship, your pick idc it just has to include artem, have the character(s) you picked coming through the front door, about to shout that they're home, when they hear some humming. hm? what could that be? so they walk over, and it's artem cooking and singing softly.

or, hear me out:

artem wing singing in the shower. now, avid singers-in-showers will tell you, the acoustics in a bathroom can't be matched. you sound like a god in there. so just imagine artem wing in the shower (obligatory *bonk* of horny placed here, think of that later) starting off humming but at the end of the shower he's full on planning a show. remember the character(s) you picked in the first scenario? i want you to imagine them sitting by the door of the bathroom, listening to their beloved sing, because what is artem without being embarrassed over having a habit and the reassurance that he's wonderful for having said habit?

thanks for reading!

[luffyrose]

Welp.

We’re here again.

How are y’all?

Good?

Good.

Me?

Oh, I just had a ninth au idea because of a Hadestown song qwq

Alright, here comes the gist and info dump so I can look back and organize this later.

Gods Au!

I actually haven’t seen any of these yet surprisingly but I may just be unlucky lol.

Either way, my take on this concept if you know any others uvu

Techno is obviously referred to as the Blood God but he isn’t an actual God of Blood, he is the God of the Hunt and Fields. He is incredibly good with weapons and has a special power over animals as well as being able to heal and plague humans either directly or through their crops and meats.

He is not the god of harvest though so his powers over the crops can be overthrown if the god of the harvest so chooses. I don’t know who this god is yet.

I bet y’all thought that Techno would be the god of war or something but nope! Heheheh

Oh wait! Tubbo gonna be the God of Harvest. He has a stronger version of Techno’s powers over crops but not over humans directly as he is still a younger god. He also has some power of bugs which is stronger the more closely related to plants the bugs are. So basically, bees are easily his friends and listen to him while spiders would be an equivalent to a cat. They listen in the end, but they’re little assholes half the time.

Philza is the God of Vitality and Plague. He is one of the oldest gods and very kind but is not to be trifled with. The other gods know better than to anger him since he is strong enough to curse even them. They won’t die but they can suffer from his curses, being in constant pain or unable to heal wounds with magic

Wilbur is the God of the Sea and generally stay uninvovled with others, enjoying peace and quiet. He does have a temper when messed with so most don’t interact with him but Philza and Techno did, which mmade their little ‘family’ as Philza became protective over the other two gods. Wilbur can control the sea and storms.

Tommy. Now Tommy is a very very special case because I have no fucking clue what I want for him-

Back track, friend gave me big brain moments boiiizzzz

Tommy is a god, but one that was human before. He isn’t any specific God but gained the title God of Tricksters due to his ability to escape death and the fact that both humans and gods rejected him. He didn’t hate them though, he used their hate as motivation. He has quiet a few powers, all of which’s base level is lower than the true gods. He can control storms to an extent, his actions cannot be prophesied, and is generally stronger than normal even in his human body.

Tommy can shapeshift like the other gods to an extent. He can change to animals with ease but they always have small horns, no matter the animal, never letting him blend in completely. He can’t change his human size. He also cannot change his eyes, skin, or the devil’s tail, horns and wings that appeared when he became a god. He can however change the size of the wings and the length of the tail at will, to which he puts to good use.

Wilbur actually loves the fact that Tommy can control the storms some like he can since neither are the god of weather but have that ability. They bond over it and Wilbur helps him get used to that part of his powers.

Dream is the God of Nations and War. He watches over the humans and their affairs, making sure they don’t attempt to harm the gods as there are ways to weaken and seal them, just not kill them. He is also known as the god of war thanks to watching the humans affairs including the wars.

He would go down and fight with the humans secretly if he ever got too bored so he would get in trouble a lot but became well known. He got to befriend George thanks to traveling to the humans a lot because spirits stayed in crowded areas.

George isn’t a god actually, he is a spirit that Dream has follow him around as a servant. Really they’re good friends but to the more stuck up gods they must appear as otherwise. He has a weaker version of Dream’s abilities and an animal form he can stay in. His animal form is a cat, and he can usually be found on Dream’s shoulders in that form.

Now back to the subject of the stuck up gods. They themselves are not characters. They are just figures that have similar power to Philza and demand or order certain things and most listen out of fear.

There’s no real structure to the god’s and their ranking. Whoever is stronger is feared or respected by the others and that’s it. Along with gods however. There are demons and their are otherworldly creatures too. Hence the next part of this.

Sapnap is a demon but one that was born on the human realm so he was viewed as gifted by the gods. Bad takes him in and helps to raise him before introducing him to the other gods where he becomes friends with Dream and George.

Bad is a God, but a more controversial one that is begrudgingly accepted by others. He is the God of Demons. He gained that position because he was a demon born with the powers of gods. He was gentle though which is why he was begrudgingly accepted instead of sealed away.

To the demons he is known as the Demon King. You would think that he would be overthrown quickly thanks to his calm and kind nature but most demons loved him and those that didn’t were quickly taken out or quieted by the captain of the guard.

Skeppy. He is a manmade demon that is actually quite conniving. Bad and him met fairly early on and became friends so when Bad was declared king and a god, Skeppy declared himself his protector. Even as a protector he still picks on and pranks Bad though.

I have no idea if all of this is making sense to you guys but it is to me XD

UUUHHHHHHHH

My brain is slowly dying rn cuz I got food so I may have to do a part two later with more info.

Please leave me asks on things!!!!! I really want to interact with people and also develop this and other aus more! You can ask something as simple as (using this au as an example) “What’s blah the god of?” to ��How did blah and blah meet?” or “What is blah and blah’s relationship?”!! Or even ask questions of how the world works.

I’m desperate at this point for more human interaction qwq

[buginateacup]

🥰, 🏆 and 📒?

🥰 - Fav Story. Ooooh that's so hard. Tea with Topsy is my big one that has character development and growth and is such a slow burn you'll get frostbite, though Rings is very quickly catching up in a completely different direction.

But I think If I was going to pick just one it might have to be Run. I'm really proud of that one for consolidating a lot of random thoughts I had about what Damsel as a Profession entails and why Roxanne does it and I think its a really excellent self-contained story that has a clear direction and purpose and has a lot of gut punches but ends with that Brains/Brawn/Boss combo that is just *chef's kiss*

🏆- Fic you're most proud of. Definitely Tea with Topsy. Its still not done (and is in a really harsh point in the story) but it was my first long fic in a long time and approaches things in a way that I hope is entirely new to a lot of other fics I've seen, both in the worldbuilding sense and the idea of what drives Roxanne and how she finds herself falling for Megamind and how they handle literally everything that comes with being a damsel who falls for a supervillain and does something about it.

Plus Roxanne gets to make friends with some of the Doom Syndicate and I am very invested in Roxanne having more friends.

and 📒 - Any fics planned?

Oh gods SO MANY. 99% of which are for Megamind of course. Off the top of my head there is Blue Ruin (1920s Jazz Age AU). Paperwork Polycule (Roxanne and the three aliens all get married to stop Megamind, Metro Man and Minion getting deported. Cue slice of life domesticity and falling in love.) There's a follow-up to Presentation, a 5+1 times Roxanne got Megamind to be her fake date (and one time it wasn't fake at all) fic, Roxanne rescues kitties and Megamind can purr fic, a LOT of threesome fics in various combinations, a ballroom dancing fic that is going to get feral horny, a First Kiss fic that is all feelings, A Roxanne got dumped and accidentally wound up having a really good night out with an in disguise Megamind (and an even better rest of the night in one she finds out its him) another Queen's Gambit fic that is mostly about Beth playing speed chess, and a Hadestown/Doctor Who Thoschei mashup.

That's not all of them, there are a couple of established fics that are getting continued too.

I would really like to finish the first thing I started writing for the Megamind fandom which is Roxanne on the balcony of a party around Xmas time and gets a lift home on the hoverbike (that's it. That's the plot) and gets to borrow a cape because its snowing...someday....

[witchesl0vingwitches]

Hadestown AU outline that I wrote at like 2am a while ago and never touched it since

Im gonna copy this directly from my notes app without changing anything so y'all can see my smooth brained thought process <3

Tedros (Orpheus) is raised by Merlin (Hermes) after his mother left him and his father died. Merlin realizes that Tedros has the gift for music (it's his talent hehe) bring the world back into tune yadda yadda anyway. Then Tedros meets Agatha (Eurydice) and is immediately like "yup that's the girl I wanna marry", Agatha is not amused in the beginning (she also doesn't understand why this idiot but okay looking boy would want to marry someone like her) but she appreciates his company and is endeared by him yeah they fall in love we all know it

sO this is where the story can have two possible divergences: one would be if Hester and Anadil played the role of Hades and Persephone, which is obviously very suiting, and I guess I could push Agaster into it?? (Pumpkins if you're reading this I'm so sorry) but I just couldn't make the story work with it

And so, we get to the storyline I was able to develop:

The Coven (The Fates) are there doing their fate stuff ig, and Nicola (Persephone) comes to Town (the school? Camelot? Who knows) to drink and complain about her capitalist wife or something I don't have all the details ok

Now I'm gonna skip to Chant because this is the part I've got kinda figured out so: It goes the same as in the musical at first, Tedros is being an airhead (he's in the groove), Agatha is out looking for food, the coven is being a bitch to her and there's a storm forming

Now this is where it can get a bit fuzzy (again I have like no details) but Sophie (Hades) finds Agatha (and they're still sisters in this AU, I need to make that clear) and tried to convince her to dump her fool of a man and come to the underworld with her because there's food and Sophie is having a fight with her wife and she needs someone to vent to. So Agatha ends up agreeing, bc she loves her sister and she's pissed at Tedros and so they leave

Merlin tells Tedros what went down and he's heartbroken but decides to go after Agatha (this part is pretty much the same as the og story) bla bla bla perils and stuff, he gets there

Now Sophie, despite being a cold monarch and not caring about her people all that much, would obviously not trick her own sister into working for her, so this story becomes...way more tame than in the musical actually. Sophie has been buying a bunch of expensive shit to impress Nicola, Nicola does not like it and is furious about how Sophie treats their subjects, and when Tedros gets there he'll basically find Sophie telling Agatha all of this drama over brunch or something (I'm sorry this is so anticlimactic but I just can't see it being any other way)

So I'm not sure what happens next

That's it. I'm still not sure what happens next. I like the overall idea but like all my other projects I just don't have the right motivation to take this anywhere just yet *sigh* hope it makes sense and maybe I made some ppl laugh ahkdahsjsd

[maddie-grove]

Bi-Monthly Reading Round-Up: March/April

PLAYLIST

“Hey, Little Songbird” from Hadestown (The Wager)

“New Slang” by the Shins (Spinners)

“Auto de Fé” from Candide (October Wind)

“Let’s Generalize about Men” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure)

“Juice” by Lizzo (Shrill)

“Love’s Been Good to Me” by Frank Sinatra (Sex and Violence)

“Heroes” by David Bowie (Cracker Jackson)

“Listen to Her Heart” by Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers (The Cybil War)

“Satellite of Love” by Lou Reed (The T.V. Kid)

“Distant Shores” by Chad and Jeremy (Love’s Willing Servant)

“Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?” by the Mountain Goats (The Cartoonist)

“Ghost World” by Aimee Mann (Summer of the Swans)

“Floating Vibes” by Surfer Blood (Not the Duke’s Darling)

BEST OF THE BI-MONTH

The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli (2010): Don Giovanni de la Fortuna, a nineteen-year-old nobleman in medieval Sicily, loses his entire fortune to a tidal wave and soon finds himself on the brink of starvation. That’s when the Devil comes knocking with an offer: endless money for the rest of his life if he doesn’t bathe, cut his hair, shave, or change his clothes for three years, three months, and three days. This is a retelling of a lesser-known Sicilian fairy tale and, next to the sublime Breath, it’s Napoli’s best work. Instead of taking the easy route of making Don Giovanni a stupid brat who learns to be nicer and more frugal, she complicates things by making him sweet and resourceful from the beginning, as well as callow and somewhat thoughtless. (His first action after seeing the damage wrought by the tidal wave is to go out and help bury the dead for three straight days.) This makes the message of the book more powerful; if someone deep-down good and intelligent can stand to think more about others and help the less fortunate, then clearly that lesson applies to everyone, not just the worst sort of rich people. Don Giovanni’s unprocessed grief over his long-dead parents and longing for human connection are also very affecting.

WORST OF THE BI-MONTH

Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen (1999): In medieval-ish Scotland, a poor tailor longs to marry his sweetheart, a spinner, but her father will only consent if the tailor can show he’ll be a good provider. The tailor tries to make a dress that appears to be made of gold and succeeds; however, he still loses his sweetheart to a rich miller and his health to a magic spinning wheel (as one does). Years later, the sweetheart’s daughter, now a skilled spinner in her own right, finds herself in trouble when a king gets the wrong impression about her being able to spin straw into gold. File this one under “cool idea, half-assed execution.” After a certain point, Napoli seems to run out of her own ideas and just follows “Rumpelstiltskin” to its original conclusion. This wouldn’t be great for any fairy-tale retelling, but the ludicrous “Rumpelstiltskin” needs more reworking than most. Also, the tailor’s sweetheart is such an ableist tool! I’d get it if she chose the rich miller out of concern for financial security, but she just dumps the tailor because the magic spinning wheel basically gave him a supernatural stroke and she thinks it made him evil? You can do better, baby!

REST OF THE BI-MONTH

The Cartoonist by Betsy Byars (1978): Alfie Mason, a quiet eleven-year-old, takes refuge from his unhappy family in the tiny attic of his ramshackle house, drawing faintly absurd cartoons. Then his ne’er-do-well older brother Bubba loses his job, prompting a way-too-excited Mrs. Mason to decide to renovate the attic into a bedroom...so Alfie barricades himself in the attic and throws the family into chaos without saying a word. I first read this book when I was eleven, and even then I found it deeply upsetting. Mrs. Mason seems incapable of seeing anyone but Bubba as a full human being, and she never regrets hurting Alfie or her daughter Alma in order to benefit her eldest. The best Alfie and Alma can do is call her out on it--Alfie through his silent protest, Alma by finally standing up for herself and her little brother--and try to move on. It’s certainly an unvarnished message for a middle-grade novel, but it’s not a bad one, given that some parents are just like that.

Shrill by Lindy West (2016): In this memoir, Lindy West reflects on her personal experiences with fatphobia, the general strangeness of having a human body, abortion, the ethics of comedy, and Internet trolls, among other subjects. This book was genuinely inspiring and amusing to me at a time when I greatly needed a lot of confidence and some laughs, and for that I am eternally grateful. The humor can feel very social-media-circa-2015, but there are worse things than a book capturing a specific moment.

Cracker Jackson by Betsy Byars (1985): Eleven-year-old “Cracker” Jackson Hunter realizes that Alma, his beloved former babysitter, is being physically abused by her husband. Even though his divorced parents forbid it and Alma herself warns him against angering her husband, he tries his best to help her, with mixed results. By all rights, this middle-grade novel should be a tonal mess--Jackson and his best friend Goat get involved in some legit Wacky Schemes--but instead it’s a moving portrait of a kid who has to deal with gut-wrenching adult realities while also navigating sixth-grade drama. I also loved Jackson’s three parental figures. They’re all flawed--Jackson’s mom is a worrywart about stuff that doesn’t matter, his dad can’t hold a conversation with him without lapsing into Dracula impressions, and Alma sometimes treats him more like a peer than a kid--but they all clearly care about him and try to make things okay. 

Not the Duke’s Darling by Elizabeth Hoyt (2018): Years ago, a horrific murder and a dubious attempt at revenge tore apart the lives of Christopher Renshawe and Lady Freya de Moray. Now he’s a widowed duke with severe claustrophobia and a blackmailer on his case, while she’s an undercover spy for a secret society of Scottish witches who help women. (Awesome.) (Also some of them are lesbians.) When they end up at the same house party, she vows to keep hating him for wronging her family, but does that last long? No, because they’re reasonably good at communicating and can appreciate each other’s goals! This spooky Georgian romance didn’t knock my socks off, but it’s a good start to Hoyt’s new Greycourt series and it has a light touch with the serious issues it handles.

Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan (2019): Violetta Beauchamps, a sixty-nine-year-old* bookkeeper, is cheated out of her pension by her landlord boss. In desperation, she hatches her own retirement plan: swindling Bertrice Martin, a wealthy seventy-three-year-old widow, by pretending to be her insolvent nephew’s landlady. Bertrice has refused to pay her nephew’s debts on principle, but she’s willing to make an exception if Violetta will help pester him into vacating his lodgings. Shenanigans and old-lady romance ensue. This mid-Victorian-set romance novella is like an ambiguous image (for example: that picture that’s either a vase or two faces in profile). Look at it as the tale of two L.M.-Montgomery-style elderly women falling in love, and it’s delightful; look at it for deep social commentary, and it’s pretty simplistic and sometimes even callous. I enjoyed it, but it only works on certain levels.

Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars (1970): Lately, fourteen-year-old Sara Godfrey has been feeling awkward and out of charity with everyone: her absentee father, her plainspoken aunt, her beautiful older sister, the other kids at school, and even her little brother Charlie, who has been mostly nonverbal and easily disoriented since sustaining serious brain damage during a childhood illness. When Charlie goes missing in the night, though, her only thought is to find him. Despite loving Byars, I avoided this Newberry winner as a kid because it looked kind of boring. It is a little sedate in a classic-American-coming-of-age-story way--part “The Scarlet Ibis,” part Judy Blume--but I still loved Sara, who is always ready to throw down, and I found the depiction of Charlie to be surprisingly sensitive for the time. (The language is outdated, but the passages from Charlie’s POV aren’t condescending, plus he isn’t killed off, as I initially feared.) The descriptions of the coal-ravaged West Virginia countryside are also very evocative.

The TV Kid by Betsy Byars (1974): Lenny, a preteen living with his single mom at the kitschy Kentucky motel she owns, struggles in school and has no friends. (His family moves around a lot and he probably has a learning disability.) He has two sources of solace: watching TV and sneaking into the abandoned lake houses in his neighborhood. One day, though, his favorite hobbies get him into trouble. This was one of my favorite Byars books as a kid, even though I was not familiar with the TV landscape of 1974. I liked it a little less this time, but not because it was dated; instead, I was disconcerted by how pro-getting-bitten-by-a-rattlesnake it is. Also, a significant portion of the story is devoted to a child suffering horrible pain from a snakebite, which is harder to take as an adult reader. Still, it’s got some of that classic Byars melancholy.

The Cybil War by Betsy Byars (1981): Eleven-year-old Simon has had a crush on his classmate Cybil for years, because she does awesome stuff like advocate for more active roles for girls in the yearly school pageants. He’s not inspired to act on his feelings, though, until his awful best friend Tony decides he likes Cybil and starts talking shit to her about Simon. There’s a lot to like about this book. Cybil, with her nonchalant confidence and kindness, is a wonderful character, and Simon’s thorough admiration for her is adorable. I also like how Byars ties Simon’s complicated feelings about his deadbeat dad to his efforts to navigate small-scale fifth-grade drama; both weigh heavily on him, and Byars is never condescending about this. Yet the book’s not Byars’s best, mostly because of the lack of generosity towards Cybil’s fat friend Harriet and, to a lesser extent, Tony. 

Sex and Violence by Carrie Mesrobian (2013): Seventeen-year-old Evan doesn’t do serious relationships, instead preferring to hook up with girls and ghost them when he starts having feels. (His family moves around a lot and he’s got some trauma.) Then one girl’s jealous ex orchestrates a horrific assault on them both, leading Evan’s distant widowed dad to take his traumatized son back to their Minnesota hometown. It turns out okay. I liked this novel a lot more once I accepted it as an intentionally messy coming-of-age novel, rather than an issue novel...but it was still a little too messy for its own good. I felt like I was supposed to condemn Evan for having casual sex, something that’s both morally neutral and natural enough for a teen who moves every year, yet the narrative all but endorses his contempt for lower-class girls. I was also uncomfortable with the revelation that Evan was a survivor of statutory rape. It seemed like he was being punished by the narrative only for hyper-sexuality that clearly stemmed from trauma--with a physical assault with some strong sexual implications, no less--but let off the hook for his thoughtless middle-class-boy prejudices. I did feel for him, though, and that carried me through most of the book.

October Wind by Susan Wiggs (1991): In late-fifteenth-century Spain,  Cristóbal Colón (aka Christopher Columbus) tries to convince Queen Isabella to fund a westward expedition. Meanwhile, nobleman Joseph Sarmiento learns an enormous secret about his background and must decide whether to alter the course of his life. During this time, Rafael Viscaino, a young scribe, strives to rise in the world while his friends, aspiring doctor Catalina and cheerful but troubled half-Roma Santiago, have their own struggles. This historical novel (which just barely qualifies as a romance) has a lot of potential, but it wastes too much time on Columbus and Isabella, plus it gives them more credit than they deserve. Wiggs should’ve focused on Joseph, the sexiest and most likable character, and made more of his eventual relationship with Anacaona, a Guanahani woman. Or else she should’ve just made it a poly romance with Rafael/Catalina/Santiago, which she comes this close to doing.

Love’s Willing Servant by Avis Worthington (1980): Left penniless by her father and betrayed by her childhood sweetheart, Lettice Clifford decides to take herself to her sister’s home in colonial Virginia and get a rich husband. She’s surprised to find herself sharing a ship with Geoffrey Finch, a neighbor who has been betrayed by his evil twin and sold into indentured servitude. When his indenture ends up getting bought by her brother-in-law, they grow closer, but multiple creepy people and Bacon’s Rebellion threaten their love. Maybe I’ve just seen too much, but I was pleasantly surprised by the relative inoffensiveness of this Old School romance. Geoffrey is a reasonable person, there’s not a sexual assault every other chapter, and the racism issues are more “the black characters should be more central” than “this is just a defense of slavery” or “calm down with the n-word, Quentin Tarantino.” These small mercies aside, I also enjoyed the absolutely bonkers plot and the use of historical details. I didn’t care much for Lettice, though, because she’s usually either boring or kind of a dick. 

*Nice.

[itskyleeyo]

hadestown brain dump (songs)

SPOILERS FOR HADESTOWN/THE STORY OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE

ok so it may have been more than a few days, but what're you gonna do about it?

so i wanted to do another brain dump, and i wanted to listen to hadestown, so i'm doing a song by song brain dump as i go along. this means that my thoughts are going to be even more stream-of-consciousness style (if that's even possible.) also i'm talking specifically about the original broadway cast recording bc i haven't listened to any other version. (also this was completed across multiple months so it is even more chaotic lmao).

also i highly recommend that you listen to the musical and/or pull up the lyrics as you go along! enjoy!

road to hell. the way andre brings in the chorus is flawless please. also the way that hermes is both a narrator and a character in the story he's narrating? beautiful. "the king of the mine." he sounds so nice here for some reason. also love his self-introduction "maybe it will turn out this time" no it won't but thank you for trying. also breaking the fourth wall to acknowledge the chorus and crew is so nice, here comes reeve ;) mans sounds like an angel. you can hear amber's voice stick out of the chorus and i literally love it so much. i'd die for amber gray but we'll get to that later.

any way the wind blows. the fates literally sound so perfect together. Eva's intro throws me off every time, she sounds so pretty. dear god the harmonies with the fates hit so different. can this cast please narrate my life? there's the wind comparisons ;D the "ooos" are so good. "and it ain't because i'm kind" idk i just like how andre sounds here. oh and the funny behind "so i took him underneath my wing" because hermes has wings on his helmet and shoes.

come home with me. orpheus is so oblivious but i love it. also eurydice is literally such a mood. the wordplay with "come again". the "oh, he's crazy" is my favorite part of the whole song. also eva's voice acting is so good.

wedding song. the way she says "lover"? my ass cannot handle this. eva sounds so smug in the beginning of this song and i love it. "sing the song ;)" eurydice is so fantastic. the chorus of "la" is so pretty. eva joining in during the end is just. so perfect.

epic i. hell yeah introduce the king and queen (both literally and figuratively). reeve's falsetto <3 the way orpheus looks to hermes for approval throughout the musical. hermes narrating over orpheus singing.

livin' it up on top. HELL YES THE QUEEN HAS ARRIVED. i love amber gray so much. the gravel and the rasp. please step on me. also i love the idea of persephone being the wine aunt, especially because media usually portrays her as soft and breakable. the way she says "haaard". the way the music gets more upbeat and energetic when hermes says "the world came back to liiife!" the instrumental/dance? break is so good. please kill me with that trumpet good sir. the leadup to when amber starts singing again. orpheus really knows how to give a speech. "i will ;)" amber please step on me i am not joking.

all i've ever known (intro). thank you for the intro king. the music is so pretty. the way it picks up with the piano part <3

all i've ever known. eva sounds so pretty dear god. yay more wind references! the wordplay with "hold". and also the references to hot and cold throughout the musical. "i don't wanna ever have to let you go." lol ironic because she ends up going with hades. "i knew you before we met, and i don't even know you yet." the fucking wordplay. like holy shit. the "love at first sight" feelings. this line gets me every damn time. the wordplay from 2:10 - 2:38 is so fucking incredible. i lose it every time istg. the instrumental portion is so pretty. the wind! "we'll always be like this" i fucking love irony so much. its so underrated and adds so many layers to the story.

way down hadestown. amber gray. that's it. "you either get to hell or to hadestown, ain't no difference anymore". i fucking love this line so much. not really sure why but the delivery is perfect. also the whole thing with it being a train? i love that so much. all the allusions and comparisons they can make are fantastic. more amber gray appreciation. and ofc. the fates. more fantastic instrumental breaks. "and you better forget about your wishing well." this line is so good but so sad because its literally persephone saying that "hey, fair warning, life is shit down there" and i feel bad for her. like the way she's super sassy and shit, but just stops singing when hades gets there, you can tell that she's definitely not ok. speaking of hades, holy shit patrick page. sounds so fucking fantastic. thank you for existing good sir. eva with the breathtaking single lines. and eva's voice standing out when she sings "ground".

a gathering storm. the constant references to weather and nature throughout the whole musical. eurydice with the common sense. the wind again! "did you hear me, orpheus?" he did not, in fact, hear her.

epic ii. the different names for hades in each epic make me so happy. hades thoughts: "i think my wife might not come back cause i'm super controlling. whatever shall i do? oh, i know! be even more controlling!" lmao dumbass motherfucker. that might not work out so well. i fucking love the transition into "chant" so much.

chant. this is one of my favorite songs from the musical. the wordplay within the entire song is so fucking fantastic. hades singing about desire and then orpheus singing the "song of love" was definitely done on purpose and i'm living for it. every single one of eva's lines make me emotional. ma'am why are you good at everything?? the band! more weather references! patrick page singing "lover" hits different. orpheus singing about hades and persephone being blind and deaf. lmao irony because he's not paying attention to anything around him. the wind! weather! "the song of love" is what brought orpheus and eurydice together, but orpheus' devotion to finishing it is what drives eurydice to hades. "did you think i'd be impressed" i was right ;) it didn't work out so well.

hey, little songbird. the strings <3 patrick page is a god (lol i'm so funny). how does he manage to make manipulation sound so good? bird references! the vocal contrast! eva's voice has this kind of "innocence" to it. especially compared to patrick. not sure if that's on purpose or not, but i love it. also the low note kills me every time. the octave jumps between patrick and eva's voices is just. ugh. and also eva's entire second verse is so fucking good. the emotion she portrays in her voice is so spectacular. seriously hades with the manipulation is so interesting and its so good. (manipulation is not a good thing i just mean that its done so well in the show. do not manipulate people!)

when the chips are down (intro). "your ticket ;)" yes pls sir i'll take a ticket cause life sucks ass.

when the chips are down. i fucking love the fates dear god. gambling references! eva has literally one line and still owns my heart. the band! "shoot to kill" sounds so good like i love it so much pls. also this fucking line "cast your eyes to heaven, you get a knife in the back" is so good. i'm gonna have to get into quite a few lines throughout the musical in a different brain dump because i have so much thought.

gone, i'm gone. darling eurydice. its not your fault that you're starving stop apologizing. "talk of sin" lol she do be going to hell. that's funny. the harmonies.

wait for me (intro). the piano. heremes trying to change the subject hurts my heart. and orpheus' reaction is so sad please. "no.." just rip my fucking heart out, why don't you?

wait for me. the transition. andre coming in clutch with the narration. reeve sounds wonderful, as always. the fucking fates. just kill me already. they literally sound so good. the strings' build up between the "la"s. the chorus. the buildup at the end.

why we build the wall. the total 180 in the vibes. call and response has a special pace in my heart. mr page killing it again. god, hades is such a piece of shit and its perfect. he really is a master manipulator. fuck capitalism. the chorus sounds so good. i want to platonically smooch all of them. jesus fucking christ burn capitalism to the ground. the end is amazing. also the not-so-subtle references to slavery/forced labor.

why we build the wall (outro). i'd die for andre. "anybody want a drink?" yes ma'am. yes please. (don't drink, kids) i love you so much.

our lady of the underground. its so jazzy! jesus fucking christ. oh my fucking god. i would literally sell my soul for amber gray. what did we ever do to deserve her? god the raspiness fucking kills me. also love that she breaks the fourth wall to acknowledge the band. when she comes back in after the instrumental break? consider me dead. "what the boss don't know, the boss won't mind" she sounds so good here. also i love that she straight up doesn't give a fuck about hades here.

way down hadestown (reprise). hell yeah i love reprises. the fates. andre. the chorus. i love them all. i'm such a whore for reoccurring lyrics. the strings! fuck capitalism! eva's emotions are just so fucking good. "you've already forgot?" holy shit. this shit hurted. the "ahh ooh"s are so good.

flowers. the intro <3. eva sounds so pretty. the fucking symbolism in this song is incredible. i'm gonna get into this in another brain dump bc it's a very sensitive topic. the fact that she can't actually fully remember orpheus makes me so sad. so pretty <3

come home with me (reprise). hell yeah another reprise. the way the music is much more upbeat when orpheus shows up. their excitement! eva's vocal emotions are literally so fantastic pls.

papers (intro). "young mannn" kill me patrick. train references! hell yeah persephone. the way andre gets louder when he says "raised up his voice." eva <3. reeve just always sounds so pretty. ohmygod the laugh. kill me good sir. mans straight up admits to owning people and is like "it's cool tho cause they signed a piece of paper. def not taking advantage of people that are literally starving or anything. it's fine." fuck you hades. go step on a fucking lego. orpheus is so sad :(

papers (instrumental). yes. sounds so good. i'm imagining an epic chase scene. the transition into nothing changes <3

nothing changes. respectfully? the fates could kill me any day and i'd thank them. the weather reference! that "anyhow" is so fucking good istg.

if it's true. another one of my favorites. pop off intro. the broken "is this how the world is?" sadly, yes. "but everybody knows that walls have ears." is literally such a powerful line to me for some reason. it does a great job of bringing in the chorus. and by calling the workers "walls" it shows that hades views them as "less than." they aren't even referred to as people. "what's the use of his backbone if he never stands upright." oh my god. because they literally cannot stand upright. anais mitchell is literally a fucking genius. fuck the 1%. gambling references! the chorus backing him is just so pretty. the way orpheus looks to the chorus for advice and support. "we're standing." ugh its so good.

how long. oh my fucking god. amber fucking gray. (that's it, that's the post). the way she sounds resigned/disappointed when she says "i've had enough" makes me so sad. there are no words to describe how i feel about 0:25 - 0:41. like their relationship is strained, and super mega fucked up, but it's obvious that they still care about one another. the emotion in their voices throughout this song is fantastic. the play on light and dark. also more bird references! how they view themselves/their self importance. hades is a most importantly king. persephone is most importantly a wife. it really show that hades views power as more important than anything else. "nothing comes of the songs people sing." holy fucking shit. cause their song is the "song of love," but they can barely stand each other and their relationship has fallen apart. persephone commenting on his love of power over his love of her. amber's voice during "the earth must die" is so nice and for what? god i love her. they sound so nice together <3

chant (reprise). another favorite hehe. the strings! it's all just so pretty. when the piano comes in i die a little. the self realization coming from the chorus when they're like "oh shit, this is wrong. i don't deserve to be treated like this." is so fucking fantastic. the "young mannn" again! hades really be like "manipulate her! make her depend on you financially! i've been ding this a while kid! i know how to successfully control women!" reeve sounds so pretty pls. the way that eurydice has basically become part of the chorus (since she's just another worker now). more self realization! the different ways that hades and orpheus view the "song of love." "sing before i kill you so i can use it to manipulate my wife and make her feel like shit." patrick's voice tho.

epic iii. reeve coming in with that falsetto like nobody's business. orpheus really about to bite you in the ass with your own damn song. amber gray <3. the "ooo"s in the background. the way the music picks up when reeve gets to the "la"s. it's just so fucking good. that falsetto again. orpheus really looked at the king of hell, a literal god, and said "i want to ruin him psychologically" and it fucking worked. which is some of my favorite irony because hades wouldn't have shit if it weren't for that fact that he's a good manipulator and takes advantage of the needy. that last line <3

epic iii (instrumental). i have no words for how fucking beautiful this is. i so desperately want an extended version. like for real love this so much. if i get married, i want this to be the song for the first dance.

promises. eurydice is so proud of him for finishing. the way that eurydice realized that she cares about him more that material objects. wind and weather references! "if we can do it so can they!" she sounds so excited. :( "hand-in-hand" lol nope. not them refencing wedding song, anyway the wind blows, and then giving their "i do"s. absolutely heart wrenching.

word to the wise. the fates. pls step on me ladies. the lyrics throughout this are so fucking good. lol hades being damned. cause he's the king of hell. honestly its solid advice tho. humans are really fucking stupid.

his kiss, the riot. give us them adjectives king. " how dare people want rights! >:(" hades is really trying to make himself the good guy rn. the music! 2:15 - 3:03 is so good pls. the lyrics are just so spectacular.

wait for me (reprise) (intro). hello again andre! hermes literally says "he's trying to psych you out and manipulate you. he wants you to doubt everything" and orpheus says "are you sure tho?" and then procedes to doubt everything. the way the music changes is <3. the song transition.

wait for me (reprise). my absolute fucking favorite song in this musical. the first fucking lyric is so good. it really sets an expectation for the song and i am not disappointed. lyrics that talk about how fucked up any single person's brain is are so fucking cool to me. god i love this song. how soft the first set of "wait for me"s are. the support/pressure from the chorus. the entire exchange between hades and persephone. the way amber's voice sticks out of the chorus. the fates coming in clutch again. train references! more brain talk! amber gray please end me. eva sounds so pretty. and the final note is so good!

doubt comes in. the long intro that builds up suspense. the first time that orpheus's "la"s aren't echoed by the chorus/music. wind! weather! the fates sound so pretty like always. reeve genuinely sounds so scared. the way the music picks up and the chorus joins in when eurydice starts singing. the music is so unsettling and i love it. god i love his voice. 3:44 - 3:57 always hits so different. you realize just how much she means to him. how it all goes to shit when the music reaches the climax. the fact that the music clashes on purpose. the sadness in their voices.

road to hell (reprise). it all comes full circle. god andre sounds so sad. the way you come to really hear the lyrics because there's no upbeat music to distract you this time, "its a tragedy" lol because the actual written story is a tragedy. "i learned that from a friend of mine" poor orpheus :(. the way the chorus slowly joins in and the music slowly picks up. the "can you feel it" is literally so fucking powerful. fuck yes amber. fuck it up queen. amber and eva sound so nice together. the "its a love song, its a sad song" is so sad. the final lyric is just. ugh.

we raise our cups. yes pls amber. this song is so pretty. good night queen.

[itskyleeyo]

Me! Kinda.

currently working on a giant fucking hadestown brain dump. and i'm currently rewatching episode one of tfatws, so expect both of those within the next few days. also im gonna put some shit about me after the cut if you're interested.

my name is kylee. just call me ky. i use she/her pronouns.

here's some shit that i like (and my favorite of each)! marvel (loki), musicals (hadestown), criminal minds (spencer reid), harry potter (minerva mcgonagall)

come talk to me about anything! i love to hear what others have to say! (especially if you need to complain about something. life's a bitch.)