ghostbusting-otters

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I need everyone to know that Allie Daniel’s Hermes spitting out the drink from her cup during the toast in “Living It Up On Top” lives rent free in my brain

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Victoria Hamilton Barritt’s video of Persephone asking Hades to get her menstrual products at Boots now has me imagining: im tired and in pain, let me just have this

Hades has gone up and down the stairs. Twice.

He is no closer to where the tampons are. He is actually staring at the complete wrong aisle. Persephone is genuinely confused about what the hell he’s talking about, he’s more confused on what brand she uses.

She’s tired. He assures her he’s got this and gets off the phone.

He comes back with the following:

3 boxes of tampons. Different flows. Only one is from the right brand.

2 boxes of pain killers

About 20 pounds worth of chocolate it is unclear if its for him or Persephone

A very confused new worker RIP

A drink he got IDed for. He has no ID. It was a whole thing. …that quite possibly explains the new worker

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A thing no one asked for:

Hades and Persephone as portrayed in Hadestown

Its important to keep in mind that regardless of how it’s implied in various versions of the songs how the relationship between Hades and Persephone began, we are not meeting them then. We are meeting them years later. After the honeymoon phase has ended. Because Hades is no longer on his knees, singing to his lover who belongs to the world above. And Persephone is no longer the naïve girl who fell for a man who held her so tightly, and cherished her like she was the whole world in his arms.

Persephone, now likely middle aged in the way gods can age, is self medicating. Its not that she doesn’t love her husband, she does. Its so painfully clear that she does when she tries to hug him or kiss him during the first epic as they sit on the balcony playing dominoes. So she drowns out her sorrow, her pain and her anger into alcohol (and morphine as if you take the desire for it as implied use during “Way Down Hadestown”). Because at this point, she can only feel the cycle of indulgence and indifference. When she’s above, she drinks heavily, pouring over abundance into the mortals of her mother’s realm because this is the only time she can feel the sun in her face. She drinks to avoid what will inevitably come… so she makes the sun burn hotter and encourages the mortals in the station to live like tomorrow won’t matter. Because to Persephone, it doesn’t. Because the collar around her neck reminds her that she will be taken down to where the warmth and light are artificial. Where she has to face the mortals, who come hungry and poor into her husband’s realm… where she will watch them drift and hunger as workers. Because in Hadestown, the work will never end. So down there, she does the only thing she can think of. She drinks. She offers her drinks to the workers, encouraging them to try and look beyond the wall, to see the cracks and look up at the stars. She knows they can’t. But she likes to pretend they can see what she sees.

And Hades? Well he lets her because he loves her. Regardless of how he cold shoulders her, he does love her. He longs for the days when she was his. When he felt loved by her and his heart could sing songs of love to her in the light of the sun. But when he drags her down, they argue. And they cause the storms in the world above they are too much for mortal hearts. So Hadestown keeps their workers and Persephone and Hades drift apart. But he’s desperate. He believes that if he makes Hadestown warm and bright, she’ll stay. Because his greatest fear is that one day she will leave the walls of Hadestown and never return. And he wouldn’t blame her, he’d be angry sure, but not blame. Because he doubts her. Doubts that they love they once felt is too far gone. So he does what he can think to do… he gives her diamonds, rings, bracelets and a necklace, all made of the beautiful riches of Hadestown’s mines. Because maybe that’ll make her stay…

But she never wanted that. Not riches. Not electricity and fire. She just wanted him. But she can’t say that anymore. Not now that she’s angry and numbed herself too far.

But when Orpheus sings? The song of their love… the one carried beneath their songs until the poet sings loud enough that it begins to echo through the walls… because the walls of Hadestown remember the lovers song. Because the workers can mimic that song… so loud it can break the king’s heart…

Until he can’t help but sing too. Like he once did to her. Because he may not remember the words, neither of them do because it was never meant for anyone else. But that melody? It turns him back into a man.

Because in that moment, nothing else matters. He isn’t a king. He’s just a man. Who wants to hold the girl he loves so tight in his arms…

So they dance…

And he may not be able to chase her the way he once did when she runs, giggling like a young naïve girl in love and daring her lover to chase her…

But he can find his way to her. And he can hold her in his arms… and sing the flowers back into bloom

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So I’m obviously in love with Chris Jarman and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt’s performances as Hades and Persephone

But them leaving the stage after bows and “We Raise Our Cups” lives in my brain

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More on Persephone and Hermes as portrayed by Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Allie Daniel

The audience did not clap loud enough for Persephone in “Our Lady of the Underground” when I saw the show and Hermes just looked at the audience and demanded they clap louder (the audience did)

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More Hadestown thoughts because I want to talk about Allie Daniel as Hermes

OH MY FUCKING GOD

I AM OBSESSED WITH HER AS HERMES

LIKE SHE WAS MY FAVORITE FATE AND HER HERMES IS JUST AMAZING

….anyways

The choices made by her versus Cedric Neal are interesting to me because her Hermes is the first time I’ve ever seen a Hermes look genuinely hesitant to send Orpheus on the path to Hadestown.

Because she knows what happens when she sends him. She knows he’ll fail. She knows how the story ends…

But she has to send him anyways. Because the story has to go on. It breaks her heart to send him…

It breaks her heart to witness everything play out as it always does. She so genuinely hopes things will turn out differently each time she tells the tale…

But Orpheus will always love too much. The fates will always get in his head…

And she can’t change that. No one can.

But she loves Orpheus. She knows how much he loves Eurydice. And no amount of her love will change the ending

And then, there’s Persephone. Their dynamic absolutely sold me on the interactions between the two characters. They’re much closer and a lot more friendly with one another…

Persephone leans into Hermes when they talk and they’re both equally as willing to taunt Orpheus and Eurydice about life in Hadestown. (Their bits in Way Down Hadestown are so fucking funny)

When they show up together in Our Lady of the Underground, they feel like they’ve been drinking together. They nearly kiss before playing it off and she spends the whole song encouraging her.

There are times when it’s clear Hermes is trying to reassure her. About her marriage. About having to leave the world above. It’s just such a lovely dynamic.

There will probably be more posts later, but I love this specific cast so much.

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The more I listen to Anaïs Mitchell’s music, the more I believe that someone needs to cast her musical as a sapphic production

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Okay… I’m still thinking about Hadestown

This is still about Hades and Persephone played by Chris Jarman and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt

So the “keep your head low” is obviously repeated by the workers in Hadestown. Its their reminder that looking up could be dangerous. They don’t need anything above, their lives are now here. They belong to the underworld. Their place is in Hadestown.

Hades’s head also stays relatively pointed down. The weight of the underworld on his shoulders. Of his broken love. Of his children he wants to keep in a way he can’t convince his wife to.

But Persephone bends… but her eyes stay searching for the world above. Everyone keeps their heads low, but the lady of the world below keeps her eyes pointed up.

She’s searching for cracks in the wall. She’s searching for a scrap of sunlight… maybe she’s hoping one day her husband’s eyes will follow hers… or maybe the workers blind eyes will lift and see scraps of the moon and stars beyond the wall. Maybe one of these times she’ll convince her brothers to see the sky… to remember… there was a world beyond these walls…

Even when she descends to Hadestown in “Way Down Hadestown” her eyes stay up… the light remains on her until she completely disappears out of sight.

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Nonsensical thoughts from my experience of seeing Hadestown on the West End:

SPECIFICALLY the interpretation of Hades and Persephone from Chris Jarman and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt

So, for the context of Why We Build the Wall, it’s important to keep in mind that despite it’s original intentions to be about how Hades has isolated himself and the workers… it was recontextualized in the time of the first Trump administration. The isolationism almost becomes about nationalism…

He’s asking the workers to repeat the mantra about the wall… ESPECIALLY the final verse

“What do we have that they should want?

We have a wall to work upon!

We have work and they have none

And our work is never done

My children, my children

And the war is never won

The enemy is poverty

And the wall keeps out the enemy

And we build the wall to keep us free”

Now, I found myself less focused on Hades and workers and more focused on Persphone during this song. She looks like she’s being held hostage up there. Hades turns to her to make sure she’s repeating his words. Because a divide between them facing the workers could lead to a riot. Because if the lady of the underground goes against her husband, why shouldn’t they?

And I should also note, Persphone flinches during “Papers.” When she tries to speak and she’s told to stay out of it by Hades, she visibly flinches.

THEN

Orpheus (played by Dylan Wood) sings parts of “If It’s True” to Persephone. He challenges her. He’s met her in the world above, and questions why she would just fall in line with Hades… he challenges that she would fall in line when he’s seen her gracious nature in the world above. How has Persephone, the patroness, fallen in line with the systems that run Hadestown? Despite all of her power, why does she just submit to Hades and his world he’s created? Has she numbed herself too far? Has she chosen to ignore the suffering in a drunken stupor?

Of course, “How Long?” occurs where she argues for Orpheus. And she reminds Hades that while he has the power, she is still his wife. Regardless of their arguments and martial issues, this is her world as well. It may only be for half of the year, but she is the queen of this realm.

When the riot starts, Persephone descends quickly to find Orpheus, and attempts several times to reach out to him, but is scared away the moment that Hades looks to see her… until he steps on the turntable. And then in the outer ring, its Persephone and Hades circling one another. She’s staying protectively close to Orpheus, as if ready to defend the boy if need be.

And then she does defend him during “Epic III”

So during “Wait for Me” (reprise), Persephone is singing in the chorus of workers for Orpheus. Because if his love can win. If he can pass this trial, then she and Hades can survive. Then the seasons will return and they’ll be on better terms. She won’t burn a hole in their bed and Hades won’t toss in his restless sleep. They’ll sleep peacefully in the world below in each other’s arms like they were always meant to.

Now, we have no idea how many cycles of seasons have passed from the end of the story, to when Hermes tells it again and when “Raise Our Cups” occurs. What we do know is…

Relative to when the events occurred, spring comes again. Hades and Persephone are on good enough terms for her to lean into him.

Long winded way of saying, i love them as Hades and Persephone

Complete Side Note:

A design detail that I did not appreciate the first time I saw Hadestown on the US national tour is the fact that Persephone wears a choker.

In “Chant II”, Hades sings how to “keep a woman” he hangs a chain around her throat, shackles her with bracelets, and binds her with a gold band… and to weigh her pockets down with precious jewels while Persephone mimicks these actions (likely alluding to each being ‘gifts’ that are Hades’s misguided attempt at getting her to love him despite of their martial problems)

So she literally had a chain around her throat as a reminder of her still belonging to her husband, regardless of how she wants to defy him (which could prove disastrous for their lives in Hadestown)

Complete Side Note 2:

The interactions between the fates and the main four (Hades, Persephone, Orpheus and Eurydice). Obviously, the fates manipulate the whole play. They tempt Eurydice with what life might be like in Hadestown where they’re never hungry or cold… they taunt Hades about what to do. Because if he says no, Persephone will never love him again, their relationship will be broken. On the other hand, if he just says yes, the workers will continue their riots.

But Orpheus and Persephone are a different story.

Every time (until “Doubt Comes In”) the fates attempt to make Orpheus question himself, he defies them. He’s optimistic enough to ignore them.l. And when the fates even consider attempting to taunt Persephone… she barks at them. She refuses to be cornered by them because, she simply won’t listen.

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I get to watch Hadestown again tonight, so the void better be prepared for me to make Phoebe and Melody suffer because Janine and Egon’s marriage is in shambles when i get back

Spoiler below the cut:

…im not even joking.

Im canonizing that the argument during chant causes the storm that kills Melody

And Egon just shows up and is like “well… you died alone and i want to piss off my wife… so how about coming to the underworld with me little songbird?”

…i also need to figure out how to get the creepiness out of “Hey Little Songbird”

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Talking to the void because I’m procrastinating and listening to music:

And yes, I’m aware this whole idea sounds like nonsense, but it’s fine. I’m sleep deprived and this is living in my brain and I have bad music taste, don’t judge me

This but as the general vibe of a fic about Egon in Summerville with Janine’s occasional visits to check on him

Like of him fearing that something will happen while she’s there and since he’s doing all of this to protect the people he cares about, he finds himself on edge during her vists

Because what if something comes after them while she’s there

He can handle himself, but if she gets hurt he will have failed the reason he abandoned everyone. He never wanted Gozer to be able to touch them… not Ray, Peter, Winston, or Janine

And he won’t let it all be for nothing

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I wrote a polybusters idea and I now unfortunately have a hear me out ship…

Im not even sure the pairing makes sense, but I occasionally think of Janine/Winston stuff because why the hell not

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The pipeline of my ghostbusters hyperfixation has two paths:

Ghostbusters ——> Annie Potts ——> Designing Women

Ghostbusters ——> Dan Aykroyd ——> SNL ——> Not Ready for Primetime Players ——> “It’s Always Something” ——> A book about the Blues Brothers

So yeah… it’s fun

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Speaking to another side of the void about the Hadestown inspired fic:

So I’m using a mix of the three albums (workshop, off-broadway live recording, and broadway)

And I think the best version of the reprise of Chant for the fic is:

Because it has both sides, and I’m biased to imagining Janine talk about the past before he became the kind of man he is when they meet in the fic

Also, I’ve been picturing the “they danced” section and it’s absolutely beautiful to me

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Talking to the void:

The saddest part is that everyone knows how the story ends

The sadder part is the juxtaposition because what do you mean Phoebe just lost the love of her life again while the two gods echo the song that Phoebe retaught them as they dance in the warmth of the sun?

(I’m a currently mildly fixated on this fic, okay?)

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This is where the second chapter is of the Hadestown-inspired fic

…I also realized I never figured out the Fates, so I have to do that while I’m writing the second chapter

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Update:

I wrote it. In an incredibly short amount of time.

It’s a tale of love from long ago

It’s a sad song… but we’re gonna sing it even so

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64213744/chapters/164800381

I’m just going to talk to the void…

But I’m planning on writing a Hadestown inspired AU with two ghostbusters ships as the main two couples in the story

Ive been listening to the concept album and thats what gave me the idea

The only one I’m saying is that I want to write Phoebe as the poet and Melody as who she falls in love with

Phoebe’s trying to fix what’s wrong with the world above

Melody’s just traveling from station to station until she finds a safe place to stay