#it's like that fucking line from Hadestown

[jaygrl22]

I've never actually watched/read the Marineford arc. Like I know what happens, roughly, but I've never experienced it first hand.

I'm scared.

[shoutsindwarvish]

my feelings on hadestown are that i absolutely ADORE the broadway version, i have the album memorized start to finish

however

nothing goes as hard as the version of chant ii from the live version and i am bitter they changed it

“he says he’d shelter us, he said he’d harbor me, he said we’d soldier on and that the war would bring us peace/we’re gonna count to three and then we’ll raise our heads singing ONE TWO is it true what he said??”

that’s not even getting into persephone’s verse (which is a crime that they cut)

why did they change it??? literally do not understand

[jacketpotatoo]

I watched Hadestown live on the West End and I just wanted to ramble because it changed my life.

Melanie La Barrie is an absolutely electric Hermes. she's charismatic and fun and toes the line between a god enjoying the beauty of the present and a god, tired and resigned, that knows how the story ends. she is an interlocutor that invites the audience into this tale whilst being fully There with the characters. a moment that broke me was Road to Hell (Reprise) where she says the 'alright' twice to Orpheus in a way meant to comfort him rather than in a detached manner to the audience. It was like a grandmother calming down her grandson and it was devastating. I love how she stands in the shadows in scenes where she isn't involved and checks her pocketwatch often - it's a reminder of her omniscience and meta-theatrically, how she's an occupant of present stage-time as well as story time. A story time that spans thousands of years, from oral Greek myth, to Ovid, to this present retelling set in Depression Era America.

I love the jazz. the fact that the unbroken song is reflected in music genre and the presence of the band onstage with the rest of the cast. there were just little moments (like at the very beginning, Hermes goes to Eurydice and asks her if she's ready and they smile at each other before the former makes her way frontstage) where the Stage of it all is made clear. it's a story about telling stories and the cast is as important as the dramatis personae in its retelling. like the blurring of character and actor - when Our Lady Of The Underground takes time to give the band their flowers. it's so important in a story focusing on the average person and survival and creation of art. And it's just so genius to juxtapose those on stage that have access to the audience (Hermes and the band) and those that do not (the chorus and mortals). also the juxtaposition of Hades and Persephone (gods whose lives persevere in the changing of seasons and the cycle of death) and Orpheus and Eurydice (whose lives end but stories continue in this loop that inadvertently perpetuates hope by retelling in a different kind of immortality). Don't even get me started on flower symbolism. also also the band gave an encore performance and i love them sm like trombone guy?? mvp.

Some small things about the rest of the cast too: Hades was an absolute standout. he wasn't my favourite listening to the soundtrack a million times but he's a scene stealer and i loved every bit of him. just the way the actor carried himself - his walk, the set of his shoulders - was fucking perfect. tortured villain and sleazy capitalist at once. when he danced with Persephone he ended up doing this silly little jig that she followed along with after giggling a little and like. AAAAA?? And his 'I don't know' to Orpheus was so genuine. When he let Orpheus go his handshake was stretched long and he clutched him just that little bit longer because he knew that they wouldn't make it and. ugh. i'm so emotional. Persephone? transcendent. her voice. her moves! again, tortured and so, so fun. when she started dancing with Hades she couldn't look at him for awhile and her face was this beautiful mesh of emotions that transitions to pure joy. oh she was perfect.

I didn't get Irish Orpheus but Swing Orpheus was wonderful as well. He has the same puppy dog energy as Reeve!Orpheus but he was less dreamy/head-in-the-cloudsy. Wait For Me (alongside fucking gorgeous lighting and staging) and If It's True?? URGH. Actually lifechanging live experience. I'm not the same person I once was. also Eurydice was fantastic. she was British and while the cadence/accent took me a few songs to get used to, she brings a very different hard-tortured energy to Eurydice - it was an interesting and fitting interpretation of the character. this was reflected in her vocal texture as well with a much more desperate and belt-y sound than Noblezada!Eurydice. I love them both though, she was wonderful. ALSO she and Orpheus kept having these sweet little eye-contact interactions onstage when other things were going on and argh i love these goobers. a sad tale and a tragedy :,)

i have so much more to say and this is getting too long but i also wanted to mention that the theatre was full of audible gasps when Orpheus turned around. just. what an incredible, immersive, emotional experience. i'd one thousand recommend seeing it if you have the opportunity.

[the-nerdiest-insanity]

Okay so I'm not saying you have to write this but I wanted to share this little plot bunny in my brain with the first fic writer who showed up in the tags.

(this is not a request I just really really want to talk about this)

Okay so we all agree that the reason 'we literally have the rest of eternity to figure out what the rest of it means' is cause Charles never finished reading the myth, right?

So imagine if Edwin is killed of for realsies, and instead of just out right stating that the reader instead gets to find it out through the means of Charles reading the myth- you know, finishing it.

(the angst potential is twsiting me insides)

I started this at midnight for me, and this wormed it's way into my brain and won't leave. The ask gives away the twist, but I hope I've written this well enough that it doesn't matter

The Song Was Written Long Ago

Title from Road to Hell (reprise), Hadestown

Charles landed on the floor with the dull thumping feeling he has associated with living as a ghost on Earth. Niko and the Night Nurse are staring at him with shocked expressions.

"Charles--" Niko tried to start before he abruptly cut her off with a shake of his head.

"Don't Niko, just don't," he mumbled. Charles sniffled and slammed his fist into the ground. Slowly, he sat up onto his knees.

"Hey, I heard a loud noise," Crystal said as she entered. She took in the somber faces around her. "Did something happen? Where's--"

"Don't," Charles spat out, sharper this time. "Don't fucking say it."

"Charles?" Crystal asked as she took a hesitant step forward.

Charles stood up and plowed his way across the room, uncaring about the voices asking about him or the hands trying to stop him. He leapt into the first mirror he could reach. "Take me home," was his only thought.

Charles landed harshly into thei-- the office. His legs carried him automatically to the bookshelf. It had been so meticulously organized before this whole damned trip. Now, everything was a cluttered mess after searching for the book to save Niko.

A painful voice echoed in his head, "It wouldn't be so messy if you'd just follow my system." Charles bit his lip, attempting to rein in his emotions.

This is like one of those Orpheus and Eurydice moments, yeah?

Charles knew there were many different versions of the story he was searching for, but focused on finding the one he had started all those years ago.

Finally, he pulled out Metamorphoses. He flipped to Book X, finding the line he last read. He had stopped when the pair began to leave the Underworld. He had figured either they made it out and lived a happy life or something terrible happened. And, Charles was fine never knowing what the answer was. Until now.

He read about Orpheus's confidence in getting the pair out. He read out Orpheus's doubt. He read about Orpheus turning around too soon.

Charles slammed the book shut. He didn't need to read about how Orpheus died because he was already dead.

Charles slid slowly down to the ground, crying into the book. He could hear a voice in his head scolding him for not taking care of property. It made Charles hiccup as he sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Edwin. I shouldn't have looked back. I should've lead up out before I talked to you. I'm so sorry. We were supposed to have the rest of eternity. Edwin, please."

The rest of eternity was a very short time, indeed.

Was I listening to the Hadestown soundtrack while listening to this? How could you tell? For real, I hope you all liked this and I made the annon proud.

[e-vasong]

15, 16 and 23 for the DBDA ask meme! :D

15. Favourite line in the show?

The two I think about most are:

-Charles' "Oh, bloody hell," after Edwin asks what a handjob is lol. Stellar line delivery there. I think about it constantly. That is the delivery of a man who knows that Edwin is going to have a dozen follow-up questions and is going to be at least a little bit traumatized by the answers to those questions. I knew the second that Charles said it that this is a multiple-hour long conversation for them, and it is painfully awkward.

-"🙁 I cannot believe you would risk your ENTIRE EXISTENCE coming down to this operatic horror show for me. 😠 That is so FUCKING 🫵 stupid itisunbelievable!!"

16. A Rarepair you like?

I don't think Niko/Crystal is a rarepair, so not counting that....hm.

OH! I do think the Night Nurse and Johanna Constantine have hooked up before. And I think they'd do it again.

23. Song that reminds you of the show.

Wait for Me from Hadestown has become THE Paineland song to me.... but also to like 95% of the fandom, so I don't think that counts. :/ I Will Follow You Into the Dark has also been said a million times, I think.

I'll pick two more oblique options, I suppose. I Know It's Over by the Smiths (specifically for Charles), as well as Back To the Old House (also by the Smiths, and also for Charles.)

And while I wouldn't say I associate it with the show overall or a specific character, I would kill for a case episode with 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago as the main song. It's just got the right vibe. And also, I really like that song lol.

Thanks for playing the ask game!

[aralisj]

So I went to see the Mexican production of Anastasia and I have a lot of feelings and thoughts:

Like the tour and international productions, there's a cut from Learn to Do It, and Crossing a Bridge is replaced with Paris Holds the Key (Reprise)- which is a damn shame because if there ever was an Anya that could do justice to Crossing a Bridge that's Mariana Dávila (apparently, she has an almost three octave range? The fuck?!)

Javier Manente (Dmitry) is 1.86m (6'2'') and Mariana Dávila (Anya) is 1.56m (5'2'') which is just insane.

And so Javi honors the ancient Dima tradition of being more of a mover than a dancer, way too tall, handsome and with the voice of an angel 🥰

Mariana is a powerhouse - her voice is stunning and her rendition of In My Dreams will haunt me for months.

Christy and Derek's dynamic was very confrontational for Act 1, very movie Dimya, while Mariana and Javi are more of a hopeful/cynic vibe which also works very well.

Manuel Corta's Vlad is more of a tenor than a baritone so that makes some of the harmonies sound a little hollow but that's me nitpicking because his voice is lovely.

He is short, taller than Anya but shorter than Lily - which makes for a few comedic beats to hit harder, mainly choreography and the line "from the first moment I saw you, I knew I was beneath you".

Carlos Quezada's Gleb is probably the slimiest I've seen yet (Ramin, Max and Constantine). In the scene in his office, instead of grabbing Anya by the arm to stop her from leaving, he grabs her by the waist and talks into her hair?!?! It doesn't help that the translation of Still emphasizes how childlike and innocent Anya is (yikes 😬). The vibes are fatal attraction and the last confrontation feels very much like Anya would rather die than be Gleb's which is a different take for sure.

Even if I didn't love his take on the character, his voice was incredible, he played up the growl at the end of Still into an almost metal/rock thing that I loved

(I just found out that he previously played Scar in The Lion King and Javert in Les Mis which makes so much sense in retrospect)

All song translations are the same as the Madrid production, except for Journey to the Past where they use the translation from the movie (God I wish they had done that for Once Upon a December too)

In the almost kiss for In a Crowd of Thousands they got so close 👀 Christy and Derek left a little room for Jesus between them and usually grabbed each other by the forearms. My boy Javi went straight to cup Mariana's face and touch her hair while she touched his hands and tugged at his shirt!!! Real romantic stuff

Their voices sound so nice together (if you haven't heard their cover of Hadestown you should)

Lily was fucking incredible. The dance scenes! I always thought it was crazy that she had two consecutive dance heavy numbers and she delivered!!! Her singing was superb at all times.

The ballet number was so good!!! All the dancers got a big ovation

Experiencing Stay I Pray You live? I felt it inside my chest, I was so close to tears! (I missed Constantine's voice though 😩)

Irasema Terrazas as The Dowager was amazing, she has that old timey, 1940s starlet quality to her voice that is just mesmerizing.

The costumes are very pretty, lovely quality, and almost the same as Broadway's. If I remember correctly, the ones that were markedly different in terms of fabric were Lily's Neva dress and press dress, and Gleb's coat. The silhouettes are pretty much the same (though The Paris Holds the Key dress was very much a maxi skirt on Mariana 🤭)

[unheardopinions]

oka okay so. im going as orpheus for halloween so i thought yk why not lets listen through the cast recording tonight and. i reached his kiss, the riot and yk i've always been a big fan of it. underrated imo but i love the delivery of it, whenever i hear it recorded or live the hades always does great. buT i esp love the cast recording bc of this one specific moment at the end where hades takes this one, ragged breath in between the last lines (and doubt comes / doubt comes in) like YES an incredibly vulnerable moment from this literal brick wall of a character i love to see it you love to see it.

BUT. ON THIS LISTEN THROUGH. i can't believe it took me this fucking long to realize BUT I REALIZED

that sigh isn't from the burden of making such a hard decision or pain from having to give into the pleas of his wife or whatever. he's hesitant and pained and dare i say nervous BECAUSE HE FUCKING RELATES TO ORPHEUS. he sees himself in orpheus, he sees his younger self, what he used to be, in orpheus, and that's why he's scared. because he knows what young love is like. he knows very well what it feels like. but he also knows what young love eventually turns into.

so much of the song is not just about orpheus, but about hades's life as well anD I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST NOTICED SO I AM GOING SO INSANE OVER THE LYRICS NOW

but let there be some term to be agreed upon = love must have its barriers, its roadblocks. something must get in the way of true love. demeter HATED persephone's and hades's relationship. they were forced to live under the condition of only being able to see each other for half of the year

she's out of sight, he's out of his mind = once again being forced to see each other for only half of the year. when persephone is out of sight, hades goes mad, wondering if she'll return the following year, turning hadestown into a maze of factories just to give himself something to do, something to prove to persephone that he is worth keeping around

nothing makes a man so bold as a woman's smile = (in common versions of the myth) hades kidnaps persephone bc of how beatiful she is so. bit of a bold move i'd say

but all alone his blood runs thin = when blood runs thin you get cold easily, so you always look for warmth and try to stay as warm as possible. *gestures wildly at above statement of hades going mad and churning out factories, factories and plants that make hadestown 'way too hot', something abt being so freezing cold that no matter how much you turn up the heat, no matter how much you sweat and grind and work and work, there is chill in your bones*

AND DOUBT COMES. DOUBT COMES IN. = how would hades know that? is he talking about the natural flaws of man, of how humans always work? maybe, but if anything he's FUCKING PROJECTING. HE KNOWS FROM EXPERIENCE.

hades knows what it's like to be in orpheus's position. he knows exactly what it's fucking like to be so in love but forced to be separate. he knows the doubt that comes in on a stupidly personal level. hell, they directly consulted with him on what to do on this issue. he knows that no matter how much love you have for a person, not being able to see them, hear them, feel them, can fuck you up. that is how the world is. but maybe not always. maybe, maybe it will turn out this time. because something about orpheus. about seeing the reflection of hades's past, of the man hades once was. something about orpheus gave hades the ability to see how the world could be. in spite of the way that it is.

GOOD NIGHT BROTHERS. GOOD FUCKING NIGHT.

[bedrock-to-buildheight]

you got good ass takes on minos and sisyphus hows The Lady and the Tiger by tmbg as a those two guys type of song ? I need peer review on my song associations lol. also do you have any songs you associate with any ultrakill characters ?

It's a very interesting and spicy song for those two, cause in this song, Minos' opinions is represented by the tiger, the more dangerous choice. I like it!

As for my songs for the blorbos, OH BOI YOU UNLOCKED AN UNSKIPPABLE CUTSCENE

Below is a bunch of songs and who they're for. Some even has explanation

Gabriel

This Is Love by Air Traffic Controller - damn near a gabv1el anthem. A homoerotic AND homicidal lovesong. Literally the third line is 'I'm an idiot for thinking this was anything but blood'

Dear Wormwood by The Oh Hellos - Gabriel to the Council

Kaiserion by Ghost - same vibe as above, with more anti-christianity vibes

Bitter Water by The Old Hellos - Minos/Gabe, in an anticipatory grief, doomed yaoi kind of way

V1

Would That I by Hozier - highly specific Gabv1el with Minos/Gabe former relationship

Stars from Les Mis (Phillip Quast version)

V2

The Plague by the mountain goats - imo V1 was never made to give much of a shit aboyt humans. It's almost vindictively happy at seeing humanity's hubris catching up to them at last

The Toy Soldier's Song by The Mechanisms (Gunpowder Tim vs The Moon Kaiser) - loyalty is a lot to ask of a weapon, the song

Want You Gone from Portal 2 and Still Alive from Portal

Cry for Judas by the mountain goats - 'But I am just a broken machine, and I do things that I don't really mean'

A Sadness Runs Through Him by The Hoosiers - Gabriel/V2. The story of guard dogs who had bad owners

Minos

Sisyphus

Cirice by Ghost - Minos/Gabe that started out as Minos manipulating Gabe into siding with him a la Drowning Man (fic)

The Music of The Night from The Phantom of The Opera - slow, powerful and seductive. If charisma itself is a song

Ferryman by Shayfer James - despite the name, this is a Minos song. There's a certain indifference to shitty lovers and the insignificance of individual humans that fits him well

Run to You by Pentatonix - Minos/Sisyphus post-Prime. The specific amv scene I have in mind is 'Minos finds him bleeding out after fighting V1 and they share a few moments. Sisyphus realizes that maybe, he did regret one thing'

For the Departed by Shayfer James- Minos/Sisyphus, depicting their final moments before Gabriel arrives in Greed

Villainous Thing by Shayfer James - Sisyphus to Gabriel. An understanding between people who care about Doing Right, but hold too much anger to take the respectable route. Plus a bit of flirting <3

Ferryman

The Moon Will Sing by The Crane Wives - Ferrygabe resentment song <33 They fucking hate what he made them into

Obsessed With You by The Orion Experience - self explanatory

Others

Body by Mother Mother - self explanatory 2. That one piece of unadded ferryman lore hakita dropped is the gift that keeps on giving

Cupid by Fifty Fifty - lmao

Bury My Mother Pale and Slight by Amalgemotion - Virtues song. The chorus is directly calling to Gabriel as 'the knight' who will bring them freedom. I like to think that 'the king' mentioned here is God

For Narmer from Warframe- Sisyphean Insurrectionists

Like The Dawn by The Oh Hellos- Hell/Lucifer

Nothing Changes from Hadestown - The Council

Living in The Light by Ridiculon - The Council

[lotrmusical]

HI! i saw u reblogged the West end hadestown and said you've seen it so i have to ask, thoughts on hades? the character switch when he goes very camp on chant (reprise) threw me for a fucking LOOP. i had been crying beforehand but I was just like desperately holding in my laughter after that. the "young man" up against the door frame? I almost pissed myself. and his legs....

OH MY GOD. OKAY. YES

i'm the wrong person to ask about this because whenever a stage performer turns up the camp to 100, worthwhile questions such as 'is this the best considered acting choice for the character' don't stand a chance. they are completely overshadowed by the gay part of my brain emitting whirring noises. i enjoy it too much to care

but anyway my actual thoughts on zachary's hades are as follows:

i like when hades sucks. i enjoy when he gets to be a melodramatic loser and a villain-y villain, because it makes orpheus managing to get through to him hit much harder for me. so zachary hades with his sleazy attitude and the kind of warped enjoyment he's getting out of playing at being powerful and manipulative fulfilled my every wish. tailored to me specifically

i especially enjoyed his acting when he starts to break down a bit for epic 3, his scared/angry/shaken/lashing out was all delicious

direct quote from the messages i was sending people about the show after i saw it: i will say that he was not very.. idk.. plausible?? in chant 2 convo with orpheus specifically bc he was having too much gay fun strutting around the revolve to sell the lines about keeping a woman lmaooo

also i'm extra sad that we don't have the 'now it thickens on my tongue / now it quickens in my lung / now i'm stricken now i'm stung / it's done already' lines in his kiss the riot any more because they're some of my favourites and i want his gay take on them

[ananxiousgenz]

SONG FOR A CAGED LOVEBIRD: PART 15

wow. wowie wow wow. this section got me up to a little over 19,500 K. that's fucking INSANE homie!!!

this section took me a while to work out bc i knew what points i wanted to hit but not the order I wanted to do them in, so I had to break some stuff apart and rearrange it. hopefully this makes sense? this sections got a weird energy to it and i'm not sure why. but we are in the home stretch of this fic guys!!!! maybe like 3 or 4 more chapters max and then it is FINISHED, which is so crazy to me

alsoooo enjoy some bonus content!! aka me singing a lil bit of epic iii in honor of this absolutely insane milestone

HEY GANG IT'S FRESH FOOD: @smidgen-of-hotboy @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @urjover @waters-and-the-wilde @gwenlena

@demonic-panini @the-private-eye @one-joe-spoopy

Voices singing in harmonies, orbiting in perfect rhythm, chasing like the sun and moon across the sky, echoed in the deafening silence of Hadestown.

The workers had stopped showing up a few days ago. Wouldn’t pick up their pickaxes or lay a hand on their wheelbarrows. Slowly, the factories ground to a halt. The furnaces died down. The wall stopped being built. And for the first time in a long, long time, the workers didn’t care.

They took beatings from the executives with a smile and a song on their lips, a song that spoke of unity in the face of loss with a melody that grew like creeping thyme through the town. It had been a while since Peter had heard Juno’s voice, but he knew. Even from this distance, he knew it was him. His strong, clear voice helixing through the air with another voice that he assumed must have been Ben’s. And the world stopped its ceaseless grind and listened.

And from his gilded cage in Slip’s office, Peter watched with no small amount of pride as his beloved husband brought the hell of Hadestown to a screeching halt.

Slip stormed back and forth in his office. Nureyev had been up here for…. Well, he wasn’t quite sure, but his best guess was a week. Slip had taken him up here after his executives had beaten Juno and left him for dead. Something about how he didn’t want him associating with those kinds of people anymore. 

Nureyev knew that was bullshit. There was something else at play here, something he saw as clearly as if the sun were shining down through the rock overhead.

Slip was afraid of Juno. 

He could see it with every furious step and angry huff. An undercurrent of fear laced his every move. Juno had crossed some sort of line, broken some sort of spell that Slip was afraid might never be put back into place. He was getting more erratic and scattered as the days went by. And for some reason that Nureyev couldn’t quite explain, a well of dread was beginning to bubble up in the pit of his stomach.

After all, it’s the scared animals that are the most dangerous.

“Godsdammit all, why won’t they work anymore?” Slip snarled, steps heavy but quick as he paced across the room.

Nureyev turned his gaze coolly away from the window. “Don’t know. Maybe they realized the lies and bullshit you’ve been feeding them!”

“Keep talking like that and I’ll leave you right where I left your precious husband.”

“Oh, I don’t know, he seems to be doing quite well for himself so far, considering he’s brought your whole town to a standstill.”

Slip stopped pacing like a frustrated predator and stared at Nureyev. Nureyev wasn’t scared. He’d already lost so much to this man he could barely remember. What was losing a little more? He stared right back, almost daring Slip to make a move.

“What else did you expect, Slip? You lie to these people for years, force them to work for nothing, keep them away from their homes and families, and expect they’ll be happy? That they’ll listen when you speak? That they’ll care about you and your opinions?” His motions were jerky with a deep set anger and hurt that was starting to burn hotter than the heart of the Hadestown furnaces.

Slip’s jaw was beginning to tremble, but in rage or fear or pain, Nureyev couldn’t tell.

Go on. Tell him. Tell him what he needs to hear.

“How long did you think they’d put up with this before they turned on you? How long do you think they’d wait for you to change?”

How long did he think you’d wait for him, little songbird?

“They’ll put up with it for as long as I am in charge of this town.”

Nureyev sighed deeply. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“What is there to get, Petya? That these people don’t comprehend the logic of a business?” 

Slip threw his arms open wide. Even now, even with all his power and might and control, he still looked like what he had been the last time Peter had ever really known him: a small, scared kid.

“They’re going to destroy everything I’ve ever worked for. Everything I ever built for you. And all because of that husband of yours and his fucking music.” 

“Everything you built….for me?”

Slip sighed, and his expression softened slightly. “Of course. I made this town for you. I was going to show you all of its wonders. But you never came to find me, like you said you would. Remember?”

Peter couldn’t. Not at first, anyway. But slowly and surely, a memory began to creep back into his consciousness. 

He was young. Couldn’t have been more than 12 or 13. The last of summer was still in the air. Slip had just finished telling him the old Story of Hades and Persephone, a story the two of them shared like their stolen food and blankets. Peter had cracked some kind of joke, something about the two gods in the story being a perfect pair because one could kill you and the other could dispose of your remains, and he and Slip were howling with laughter.

When the laughing had died down, Slip turned to Peter, suddenly serious. “Petya, can you promise me something?”

“Of course, my love, anything.”

“If one of us dies before the other… can we send a message to them from Hades? So the one that’s still living knows to go get them?”

“Slip, don’t talk like that. No one is going to die!”

“I know, I know, but…. Just in case, you know? If I die, I’ll send you a sign. A huge sign. I’ll…. I’ll get rid of the spring altogether! I’ll keep Persephone locked up in the underworld until you come to find me!”

That sent them both into another peal of unstoppable laughter.

And then the memory faded away, and Nureyev was left standing in the office, facing a man he had known so well decades ago, but didn’t know anymore.

“I should have brought you down here sooner, you know,” Slip said, chewing on his lip. “I thought, if I can take Persephone’s reincarnation and keep him down here, and change the world above, he will notice and come for me. Surely, if I just hold out a little longer, if I just let the winter go a little longer, let him starve a little longer, he’ll remember the promise he made to me. He’ll come to find me. But no.

“Instead, you moved on. Grew up. Got a respectable job. Even got married! All while you left me to fester down here. But it’s okay, my love. I don’t blame you. No. It’s all that Juno Steel’s fault.”

Nureyev suddenly realized his mouth and throat had gone bone dry, and a slightly manic gleam had entered Slip’s eyes.

“He stole you away from me. He’s what’s keeping us apart. You know, I should have killed him when I had the chance. Maybe I can still kill him now. You wouldn’t happen to know which of my workers he’s associating with, would you, Petya, dear? Maybe I could hurt them too.”

Peter’s whole body went rigid with fear. 

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

He could barely make his hands shape the words. The sudden adrenaline rush made him shiver. He could barely imagine the pain Juno felt when he woke up and discovered his lover was gone. He couldn’t imagine having to go through the same pain.

Slip just looked back at him, face calm and still and eyes shining as he slid into the chair behind his desk, and Nureyev knew. If he made one false move, Juno would suffer the consequences. He swallowed hard.

An executive rapped on the door. “The leader is here to discuss negotiations, my associate.”

Slip’s eyes never left Nureyev’s face. “Of course. Bring them in. You might want to stay for this, Petya. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.”

Nureyev didn’t move a muscle.

A moment later, Juno stumbled through the door, an executive hot on his heels, and Peter couldn’t decide if he should let out the breath he was holding or grab his lover by the shoulders and sprint out of the room. Maybe both.

Once Juno regained his balance, he glanced around the room until his eye rested on Peter, and a soft, relieved smile inched onto his face.

“Hey, babe, what’s going on? Where have you been?” he said gently, taking a few steps in Peter’s direction. 

Peter wanted so badly to run to him, to kiss him, to leave town and never look back. But Slip’s threat had been genuine. He knew that. He stayed where he was, silently willing Juno to read the room and get the hell out.

“Mr. Steel. I will kindly ask you to keep your conversation directed to me, seeing as I am your host here.”

The smile fell from Juno’s face, and a mix of determination, fear, and hope appeared in its place. Simultaneously, a wave of dread crashed over Peter like a tsunami. Gods above, he wanted to throw up.

Juno bowed his head slightly in a greeting. “Slip.”

Slip bowed his head in response. “Let’s skip the pleasantries, shall we?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

“What the hell do you mean by shutting down my whole town, Mr. Steel? I knew you were a troublesome one, but I never knew you had the guts to take it this far.”

“Oh, this isn’t my doing. It’s theirs,” Juno said simply, pointing out the window to the gathered crowd of workers partying in the street. “They decided they’ve had enough of being treated this way, so they decided to stop showing up. I had almost nothing to do with it.”

Slip leaned forward over his desk. “But you are the one who taught them that song, right?”

“And what if I am?”

“That still makes you an accomplice. You gave them the song that they unified around, and that would be considered a crime down here. And now that I’ve got you in my office, right in front of me, well…. I suppose it only makes sense that I punish you. I suppose you’ve been told how we punish those who step out of line down here?”

Juno’s jaw was set. He nodded. Peter wanted to scream.

Slip stood. “Very well then. Do you have any last words before we dispose of you?”

And suddenly, Juno looked very calm. Calm and careful, but still living up to his last name, with features set like quenched metal.

It took a moment, but Peter realized knew that look. He knew it very well. He knew it from all the nights of playing cards with Buddy or figuring out how to stack a new shipment of crates or watching him discover a new piece of the never ending puzzle that was his song.

That look meant that Juno had a plan.

The smallest spark of hope ignited in Peter’s gut.

And then Juno opened his mouth, and began to sing the song of spring.

[claireverlasting]

41 and 12 for the ask game?

41. What are some lines from musicals you really like?

Don't be afraid of death, Winnie. Be afraid of not being truly alive. You don’t need to live forever, you just need to live - tuck everlasting

Try to walk all over us, we'll stomp all over you - newsies (this makes me wanna bang my head against the table/pos)

To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now - hadestown

You're not good, you're not bad, you're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right - into the woods

How can you soar when you're nailed to the floor? - tick tick boom

But when you’re gone, who remembers your name? Who keeps your flame? Who tells your story? - hamilton

12. Worst stage to screen adaptation?

Short answer: Dear Evan Hansen, no one asked for a movie why didn’t they give us a proshot with the obc

Long answer:

Oh boy, ohhhhhh boy *crack knuckles*

It has to be Dear fucking Evan Hansen. For a show that has the og team in the writing room I don’t know how on the fucking earth they missed the whole story completely.

They did not realize the original plot has already walked on the edge of That Is Fucked Up and was on thin ice from falling into the Problematic Cringe Theatre Hell. They were like oh it’ll be fineeeee we can totally remove these import parts and it’ll be fineeeeee. Like bro. BRO.

A huge part of the story relies on a) Evan’s connection towards Connor, and b) The story acknowledges how Not Okay Evan’s actions are. And what did they do? Butcher the script until it highlights the worst possible part of the story. I don’t even give a flying fuck about Ben Platt being too old for the role or whatever, I can’t tell people’s age anyway, but not even the most talented and 17-years-old actor can save that monstrosity of a script, and that’s the same guy that wrote the musical one! Like how👏did👏you👏not👏see👏it👏

The thing that motivated Evan to do all the stuff in the story is that he saw himself in Connor, and you can see a lot of his action was based on “What if I’m the one that was dead, what would I want people to do”. You got Anybody Have a Map, Disappear, and ghost Connor, you cut those, you cut the connections between the two characters and Evan’s inner struggles. And they made Alana the one to suggest a Connor Project as an attempt to make Evan looked more blameless in the whole ordeal. I can’t believe I need to spell it out but it did😑not😑work😑like😑that😑, you just make Alana looked manipulative, and the whole thing can be avoided if you didn’t cut Disappear. And there are Jared and Good For You, without someone that is boinking Evan on the head like “Dude please stop”, it just looks like the story is excusing his actions.

In conclusion, they thought it’ll work better if they make Evan more out of control of his situation and overall more “Opps shit happened around me and I just went along with it”, I saw a post somewhere that said that making the character directly responsible to the thing that happened makes them more sympathetic (or smt) and it applied to this situation so much. In the musical we see a teenager that make terrible decisions as an attempt to make things better, but in the movie we just see an opportunist that is manipulative and did all of the stuff to get into a girl’s pants

[questfriendspodcast]

Alright, how many of you have listened to Hadestown and what is (are) your favorite song(s)?

KYLE I've seen it performed live, and the ending's always stuck with me. The abruptness, paired with the song lyrics, just work so well.

EMILY I first listened to the original cast recording and like it all, but if I have to pick some of my favorite songs I particularly enjoy Road to Hell, Chant II, and Why We Build the Wall with an honorable mention to Our Lady of the Underground

TOM THATS A TOUGH QUESTION CANT JUST PICK ONE

ARI I have not really seen hadestown however I have listened to a single song from it and I really like it Which is You know Like it’s a bit awkward this is the song that I personally like Because it’s the wall one

TOM NO ITS ONE OF THE BEST

ARI LIKE ITS REALLY GOOD But it’s like god I’m the one from Mexico and that’s my favorite song you know but also I haven’t listened to any of the other ones in full

TOM SO as a disclaimer for my answer I listened to Hadestown The Myth the Musical first Which is the off-broadway album So most of my favorites are drawn from there even though you’ll never see a production play them exactly like that anymore

ARI Oh my god do you also have the I like the off broadway versions more dilemma Because that’s me with both the SpongeBob musical and be more chill

TOM YES

ARI I love the off broadway versions of those musicals so much more Like to be fair they did a change that makes more sense in the SpongeBob musical intro song but I like the off broadway version the most anyways

TOM So to narrow it to a top three (in no particular order) Why we Build the wall (broadway version), Chant 2 (the myth the musical), and Epic 3 (the myth the musical) With an honorable mention to the final lines of Way Down Hadestown 2 from the myth the musical ALSO NOPE COULDNT DO IT. A FOURTH FAVORITE. CHANT 1 FROM THE MYTH THE MUSICAL ITS SO FUCKING GOOD I CANT LEAVE IT OUT

[smolthealmighty]

Oh here’s a little playlist of songs that have been stuck in my head as I spiraled into the insanity that was My Hero Academia ending (while also being a LOV stan), and by playlist I mean here’s some bullshit that matches little AMVs I don’t have the resources to make:

"What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line

You know the quote “the love was there. it didnt change anything. it didnt save anyone. there were just too many forces against it. but it still matters that the love was there” (pretty sure I just reblogged a post with it)?

That’s this song

I can picture Twice singing it and the rest of the LOV joining him because yeah, they stayed together and fought and killed and sacrificed and died for each other… for the love and care of each other

And none of them regretted it, and none of them will forget it

"The Show Must Go On" by Queen

There’s a post by @villainsandvictimsalliance back when AFO was in control that talked about just how much this song fit Tomura Shigaraki and it’s absolutely correct even now

So much Tomura imagery in here: flaking and falling apart, smiling in the face of death, not knowing another purpose besides performing the role assigned to you, fucking butterflies!

It’s Freddie’s final song and taking that knowledge to combine it with Tomura’s death can be used as a double whammy

I remember thinking about how, in the finale of the song’s music video, a clip of the band making a goofy little pose is looped as clips of other silly or triumphant moments are interspersed until the door is closed and the video is over… and this is all while the vocals just repeat “go on… go on… go on…” like a broken record that can’t be played anymore

Nowadays I can’t watch that section without thinking about how Tomura probably had a similar montage in his head as he died, just remembering his precious league and the time they spent together before he turns to dust and disappeared

Someone better at analysis than me can do a think piece on how this song is Tomura’s song for the final arc because all I can do is point and scream

"Road to Hell Reprise" from Hadestown

It’s a sad tale, it’s a tragedy

But also you know damn well most of us are gonna tell it again anyway

Heck I can see the story of the LOV being passed down in universe as part precaution and part tragic societal failing to be fixed

“On the Loose” by Saga

A song I want more people to know about

Literally the LOV, no one can stop them now tonight they’re on the loose!

Also the lyrics are clearly (to me at least) about two or more people sharing the experience of being a bit too weird/crazy/bizarre for society’s standards and deciding to say fuck it

If nothing else then please listen for the dueling synth and guitar

“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” from Hamilton

The finale of this musical happened to get in my brain years ago during the MVA arc as a tragic end AMV idea then I lost it

And now that Tomura Shigaraki is dead and people are making documentaries about his legacy…

And since Spinner canonically wants to become an author to spin the tale of Tomura…

Yeah ok this is a spinaraki song now, with the LOV members who survived assisting while the ones who died look on while they wait to be reunited since “it’s only a matter of time”

God the tragic spinaraki romance angle makes this hit harder since Spinner really is a grieving spouse at this point who will likely live more of his life without Tomura than the one year he WAS with him and wants to preserve the legacy of his gaymer side

Please please please see my vision for this oh my god

"Witch Hunt" by Rush

I hear this song and think of the civilians and pro-heroes specifically

How this was really close to their mindset and how the LOV ended up being doomed by it

Just feels bad man

“Yer So Bad” by Tom Petty

This is here just for the chorus and because it sounds like a song Twice or Mr. Compress would sing at the bar after kicking the jukebox in the corner

The sentiment of how “everyone else in the world is off-putting but our evil selves are vining with each other and doing great together” is nice you know

"Space Age Love Song" by A Flock of Seagulls

Ok this one is purely for the spinaraki vibes that just ooze off this song

I’ve liked it for a while but with how we recently discovered that Spinner and Tomura’s relationship ended in tragedy, the song fits them now more than ever

It’s got 80s synth in spades which sounds so very video game like (hell there’s a ‘pew’ that goes off in time to the beat that sounds like an arcade gun)

Then the lyrics come in and they’re so simple but encapsulate just how fleeting the time they had together was… and how a connection was made in spite of lost time

I’m not kidding about the simplicity, every verse starts and ends with the same framing lyrics, then the two lines in between adds just enough to rip out your heart if you’re wearing spinaraki goggles

You know what fuck you here’s the lyrics:

I saw your eyes

And you made me smile

For a little while

I was falling in love

I saw your eyes

And you touched my mind

Although it took a while

I was falling in love

I was falling in love

I saw your eyes

And you made me cry

And for a little while

I was falling in love

I was falling in love

Falling in love

Falling in love

Falling in love

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

What I’m trying to say is PLEASE listen to “Space Age Love Song” and maybe make a spinaraki AMV to it… and send me that AMV… please?!

[pilichainartandmemes]

FFVII fic - What Howls Inside Your Head

The way out of that basement of horrors is just a stupid poorly light corridor. It’s easy: Zack only has to prove he still trusts Sephiroth and not turn back. A Doubt Comes In, Hadestown songfic.

I had brainworms listening to Hadestown and somehow only waited a year to write it. Enjoy!

Crossposted on ao3

No warnings except it's Hurt no Comfort.

“So what’s the first thing you’re gonna do when we’re back in Midgar? Me? I’m thinking takeout! Cissnei handed me recs as a thank you for being ‘a delight to shadow’. Probably not a good thing but hey I’ll take the nice food. Oh by the way! There’s this kid in infantry, he hasn’t had great luck with the SOLDIER exam and I was wondering… well if you could give me a tip or two?”

Only the walls and echoes of footsteps answer Zack. That’s completely fine! What kind of friend would he be if he couldn’t handle Seph being out of sight? It’s that stupid basement, that stupid library and that stupid lab rattling his nerves. Once they’re outside, he’ll be able to focus. Then the only thing they’ll have to worry about will be-

SOLDIER is like a den of monsters. Don't go inside.

Shinra. It was bad when they left but now… with what they learnt… Still he couldn’t just leave Kunzel or Aerith like that. Could he convince Sephiroth to stay? …Yeah, right. Zack’s attempts with Genesis and Angeal had worked so well after all. No. Seph wouldn’t stay only for one guy. Not for Zack.

Would he just leave alone then? Sure, he mentioned it on the way to Nibelheim… then what? Maybe the demon of Wutai would be fine living on the run but for how long? He used to see Shinra’s Firsts as pinnacles of strength, all of them. One impaled himself on Zack’s sword, another is dying and set on taking as many as he can with him, the last is this close to flying the coop.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths… The buster sword is a familiar burden on his back. There may be no meaning in fighting for Shinra. Still Zack can fight for his friends, including those he can yet save. He can do this. He has to. No one else has got as close of a shot.

��All that ancient stuff flew over my head, you know? But Guess what! I know a girl down in the slums who is ALSO a Cetra. Maybe you two could bond over the planet and talk about your moms.”

In retrospect spilling that secret of hers wasn’t the smartest thing. Tseng and Aerith will rightfully scold him if, no when they go back, but it’s FINE! Sephiroth wouldn’t do anything harsh, would he?

What about Jenova? Didn’t Hojo say she was not an ancient but a calamity from the sky? After being trapped by Shinra for so long, would that monster give up so readily on Sephiroth? No and neither would Zack put in the same spot.

… He is out of ideas. Still there has to be something, anything! Maybe the hippies at Cosmo Canyon could help out. He’ll take the guy snoring in the coffin at this point. Well he would if he wasn’t afraid of more skeletons from Shinra’s closet falling onto the two of them. And in the middle of that storm a thought stops Zack dead in his tracks: he can’t hear any footsteps.

No, no, no. Sephiroth can’t have just left without him noticing! All of these enhancements, all that training, all that fighting and he can’t even keep an ear out for a friend. Where is the silver lining that kept him going despite Shinra’s bullshit? Where is Sephiroth?

He can’t breathe. He can’t see the end of this tunnel. He can’t hear anything but his own stupid thoughts and his heart hammering in his chest. Fuck it. He has to make sure his friend is here. He has to-

 “No matter what you cannot let your companions see your doubts.” A memory of a lesson with Sephiroth rises above his dread, a glimpse of a far off star in cloudy skies. “They are counting on you to keep calm even as death takes their friends. As long as their leader stands, the formation will hold. You stick the course and do not look-“

Zack turns around.

“Seph, I-“ But he doesn’t get to finish as Sephiroth’s icy glare shoots down any further excuses. Without another word the general heads back towards the library. The last thing Zack hears is that damned door slamming shut once and for all.

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

I have quite a few hang ups with Come Morning Light, the hunger games au I posted one chapter for back in November and have yet to update.

The first and foremost personal challenge is the fact that I, PCE, a certified Angst Wimp, am gonna have to kill off sooooo many of my faves. Like Hunger Games has some dark ass subject matter, kids forced to kill each other. I’m struggling with that, especially with what I have planned for Craig.

Along that same line, it’s gonna be a HUGE cast of characters, which I’ve had difficulty with in the past, it’s one of the reasons I primarily operate in oneshots. I love a good The Gangs All Here fic, but fleshing out 20+ characters is HARD. Bc a fluffy 2k word oneshot of Stan and Kyle in an awkward meet cute where there’s maybe one other character (usually kenny lmfao I’m a creature of habit) is a WHOLE different animal than a multicharacter multichapter. That’s something I had to figure out recently with TWITR, and character introduction held me up a lot in ATLCTS.

Okay this one may seem really inconsequential to a lot of people, but one thing I didn’t think about when developing this concept was the fact that there’s not really away for me to get around Stan eating meat lmao that’s one thing that over my time writing sp fanfiction has become ESSENTIAL to me characterizing that boy. I’ll probably just have him make a comment about how he could never kill animals himself WHICH BRINGS ME TO:

Kyle as our Katniss character. So if you’re familiar with my bs, every time I write Kyle, he’s inherently less angry until it’s called for, he’s very idealistic in his worldview and it takes something actually really pissing him off for him to snap. This is NOT gonna be the case here!!! This boy is ANGRY BY DEFAULT, the worlds out to get him? fuck the world right back! Plus, the entire story is gonna be from his perspective, bc I love writing Kyle, but it’s gonna take all my willpower not to turn him into my usual empathetic to a fault sweet people loving Kys.

Also, I usually tend to leave the adults mostly out of my stuff, but they’re gonna play quite the role in this. We got Garrison as Haymitch, Big Gay Al as Effie, fuckin Mr Slave as Cinna. I’ve never even WRITTEN the three of them. The dynamics gonna be fun tho.

Ofc there’s the problem of it being an adaptation too. There’s a fine line between just replacing hg characters with sp names and copying the plot, as opposed to making it your own. I do have some plot changes planned, but this is an issue I faced with We’re Gonna Sing It Even So, and that almost led me to abandon that fic when I felt like I was just plagiarizing Hadestown.

Also I’m not planning to adapt more than the first book. I reallllly couldn’t handle Kenny taking out Ike with his trap in the third one.

BUT!!! This won’t be abandoned, it’ll just be slow going!!! Ya wanna know the main reason?

Because the first idea I had for CML (other than Kyle volunteering for his little brother) was STAN AND KYLE IN THE FUCKING CAVE SCENES. A major change is that both of them are already deeply down bad, but those scenes??? Yeah no one’s playing for the cameras. I wanna fuck Stan up in the arena so bad lmfao that boy is my original sp whump muse and NATURALLY Kyle taking care of him I love that shit. Girl we gonna GET that prosthetic leg the movies left out (Ship In A Bottle Stan moment, I love that fic btw) as the Style Injury Dealer, I MUST deliver.

So, yeah, if anyone’s down, I’ll eventually pick it back up lmao.

[distantwave]

recommend me 5 songs, so I can associate them with you and learn more music 🫶🏻 (I just remembered a time I asked you about your Spotify playlists??????)

Ough okay okay I feel like I’ve gotta get wildly specific songs in here (these aren’t ranked)

1. Secrets - One Republic

This song was in the soundtrack for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice in 2010 and it was specifically in this one scene where they’re in this giant fucking Tesla coil and the guys playing the song and the electricity matches up to the music and I was ten years old when this movie came out and I went absolutely INSANE for it and it’s been giving me brain worms ever since like I’m being so serious u have to google that scene rn it’s probably not good but it’s so good

2. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk - Trace Adkins

SPECIFICALLY the one off the 2005 Dangerous Man album!!! The original is also good but the second one is so much more fun. This ones my go to favorite karaoke song in the world bc I could absolutely sing it blackout drunk I know it so well. I was super super into when I was little bc I thought the “slap ur grandma” line was funny (I was 5) but I also think it’s the perfect karaoke song bc a) you don’t really need to be able to sing to sing it b) the whole song is just about how hot this one girl is c) I absolutely don’t look like someone who would adore country music so it’s silly goofy

3. If it’s True - Hadestown

My favorite song from my favorite musical in the whole wide world. Hadestown is genuinely the most beautifully crafted musical I’ve ever heard/seen/experienced/whatever and this song in particular is just so so tremendous. I fell in love with the touring cast in 2017 and when the broadway recording came out with this song on it I was just absolutely blown away it’s SUCH a good song

4. Apple - the Narcissist Cookbook

Another where it’s my favorite favorite, this one’s my favorite song/bit of spoken word from my favorite artist. All of tNC’s stuff is really cool and phenomenally well written but the first time I listened through this one the very last line just stuck itself in my brain oh so hard and has continued to stay there ever since. AND!! The song was made all the better bc I got to see tNC live over the summer with @simonswaifu and I was so certain Matt wasn’t going to do much spoken word but I was WRONG!!! And I’ve never been more elated to be wrong bc I got to hear Apple live and it was oh so delightful

5. Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie

Another one I was obsessed with when I was little! I distinctly remember listening to this song soo many times in my dads truck when it was just the two of us driving when I was like, 6? And something about it still fucks to this day (I will admit tho I only genuinely know like, half the lyrics bc this song is about the vibe ya know, who cares if u can actually understand what he’s saying as long as ur feeling the vibe)