#why do I keep playing Hadestown

[acourtofquestions]

Please for the love of Wyrd tell me Celaena actually gets to say “I love you” to Sam at least once.

[silentspaces]

it's always weird when something random suddenly hits The Button in your brain and you can feel the obsession creeping in

[starry-bi-sky]

more clone^2

snippet 21: Danny is Bruce Wayne's Clone and--

Star, with the rest of the A-List girls: alright ladies! it's time for our quarterly 'cutest boys' list! Now I'll get straight to the point, in our number one spot is--

All girls, in unison: Danny Fenton

Star, writing it down on a whiteboard: and for our number two spot--

---------- Snippet 22: clone meet clone

Ellie, dramatically: Danny!

Danny, equally dramatic: Ellie!

Ellie, pushing past him and looking around: where is he! i wanna see the little guy!

Damian, with a sword, brandishing it dangerously: *in arabic* don't come any closer, stay back!

Danny, wrapping an arm around Ellie's waist and pulling her back: woah, woah - he's still adjusting to everything

Danny, turning towards Damian with his google translate open: [please don't stab her. this is Ellie my clone.]

Damian, lowering his sword in disbelief: 'there's MORE of you?

-------------- Snippet 23: Ellie has the same epiphany as Danny

Ellie:...hey Danny

Danny, pouring over his arabic book: hm

Ellie: since I'm your clone, and you're a clone of Bruce Wayne, and Damian is a clone of Damian Wayne, does that technically mean I'm his mom - uh. dad-mom?

Danny:

Ellie:...its a fair question

Danny: .....*deep sigh* you're his cousin until further notice.

------------ Snippet 24: wait for me ii (hadestown, live vers.)

(i'm not sure of the context, but i've been thinking of Danny saying this to Damian during a serious moment for days. the snippet title is the song that the dialogue below is from)

Danny, fixing up Damian's wraith suit: the meanest dog you'll ever meet

Danny, zipping up damian's jacket: it ain't the hound dog in the street. he bares some teeth and tears some skin, but brother,

Danny, adjusting Damian's gloves, pausing to look him in the eye: that's the worst of him.

Danny, he holds a finger up to Damian's eyes and points it at him: the dog you really got to dread, is the one that howls inside your head

Danny, grabbing damian's mask and smoothing it over his eyes: it's him whose howling drives men mad, and a mind to its undoing

------------ Snippet 25: Danny is Bruce Wayne's clone-- (Battinson Vers*)

Ember, in the middle of a fight with Phantom + Wraith:

Ember, knocks off Phantom's mask for the first time: lets see what ugly mug you're really hiding under there, Phantom--

Phantom: *the wettest, most pathetic looking pretty boy on the planet*

Ember:

Phantom, dryly: what, did your mic die out or something? all that caterwauling finally make you lose your voice

Wraith, unsheathing his sword: *vibrating with baby brother rage bc he knows EXACTLy why Ember is silent*

----------- Snippet 26: Damian is finally starting to play nice :)

Dany: hey... guys.... whatcha doing

Damian, hanging out with Sam: Me and Manson are plotting ways to crush the Mayor's plan to cut budget funding for the city parks and cut down the native trees

Danny: oh, i see.... is this safe?

Sam: probably

Danny: hm.

------------- Snippet 27: digging up cold case

Danny: ....if Damian is out with Sam tonight with their plot against the mayor....

Danny, turning towards his desk: then that means I can work some more on Mrs. Witherbury's murder case that she asked me to solve without Dames guilt-tripping me into bed :)

Danny, settling down at his desk with a thermos full of coffee: i'm glad sam and damian are finally getting along

--------- Snippet 28: sparring

Damian, frowning: your reflexes are incredible but your combat is downright awful, brother. it's truly a miracle i didn't skewer you upon our first meeting

Danny, got his ass kicked by his 7yo brother: *groaning in pain* not everyone has super secret assassin training, Damian. And I don't really have time to actually practice anything.

Damian: Mrs. Fenton knows martial arts and her form is proficient enough, I'm sure she would be delighted to teach you if you asked. I will join since I need to keep my skills sharp and my training was unfinished when I arrived here.

-------- Snippet 29: daytime surprise

Phantom, fighting Skulker in broad daylight: *under his breath* at least Lancer's english test will get canceled for this...

Phantom, dodging a blast from Skulker: *in ASL, furious* don't you have anything better to do, you fuck!?

Skulker: foolish ghost child, speak! I know you're capable of it - speak before you lose the ability to

Phantom: *flips him off instead*

Wraith, sending back a ecto-blast with his sword: please pay attention, phantom

Phantom, doubletaking: *in a hissed whisper* what are you doing here!? it's a school day, you should be at school!

Wraith: Tt. If the boot fits.

------------ Snippet 30: guilt

Danny with his head on his desk, his elbows propped up as he massages his hands: hn

Damian, lurking to the side with a guilty look on his face:

Damian: can i....

Danny, silently holding his hand out to Damian: hrm

Damian, immediately taking it and doing the massages + finger exercises: ...im sorry

Danny: hm... I forgive you

[lupuslikethewolf]

in honour of being promoted to Deputy Stage Manager in my school's theatre department, top gun high school/sixth form au:

Dr Kazansky rules the drama department with an iron fist. always wearing black turtlenecks. never seen without his glasses, his coffee, and his terrifying glare (which earned him the moniker Dr Iceman). do not show up to rehearsals if you don't know your lines. death be upon the poor students who fuck around during tech and dress, because they will find out. he loves the crew tho.

Mr Call-Me-Mav Mitchell is the head of sports. you name it, he's played it, and he could absolutely give you pointers, also, do you want a protein bar with that? it's chocolate flavoured :) even the kids who Hate (capital H) sports love him. he is sunshine and adrenaline in human form. endless energy. no one knows why he is called maverick, but even the principal does it, so.

Mr Kerner is the principal. he is also the only person who can interrupt rehearsals and survive. dr kazansky loves him. inexplicably, maverick hates him. nough said.

Jake Seresin is the school's golden child, not even because he's Kazansky's nephew. he’s head boy. he’s on the school’s football/rugby team. he writes regular articles for the internal magazines. and this year, he’s playing Orpheus in the school’s production of Hadestown. everyone thinks it’s nepotism. it is and it’s not, jake just lost a bet to his Uncle Tom, and must now reap the consequences to said uncle’s delight.

Bradley Bradshaw has been stage crew since he was thirteen and an overworked runner, thank you very much. it’s his final show, he’s the DSM, and if fucking seresin ruins this for him, he will riot. dr kazansky should never let that happen. however, this is the same man who, last year, laughed when revealing that a screen on stage had turned off and bradley had to go on stage during the show to fix it. hm. maybe bradley should have re-thought his life choices. also: the turntable. the goddamn turntable.

other characters include: phoenix as eurydice, bob doing lighting, payback and fanboy as ASMs who flirt over the comms to everyones misery, cyclone as another drama teacher/stage manager,

maverick keeps turning up to rehearsals and trying to help because his favourite (cough only cough) godson and his favourite player are both interested in this stuff, so he should at least try, right? kazansky hates it until he doesn’t. kerner thinks it’s all fucking hilarious. bradley is embarrassed but its kinda endearing do NOT tell him i said that.

kazansky and maverick both bare witness to A Moment between their respective pseudo sons and decide the two simply must get together for their sakes and also so they never inflict that on another person ever.

bradley and jake both bare witness to A Moment between their respective pseudo fathers and decide the two simply must get together for their sakes and also so they never inflict that on another person ever.

kerner is cackling. Cackling.

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

You. You get me.

Ascended!Astarion allows Tav to go out and live amongst the mortals for six months, playing their songs and living how they want, but always comes to retrieve them when the summer starts (the days get longer and food will be more difficult to find). And as the years go by, their time above grows shorter and shorter, leading to there being a yearly argument between them. But in an inverse of Hades and Persephone’s argument in Chant, Tav’s questions are like this, “Gods, Astarion, why must you have this blasted place be so damn cold?!” | “Oh please, darling, you never could stand for it be so disgustingly hot.”

It’s not until Astarion hears the song Tav won him over with so long ago wafting through the air as he hunts near a tavern that he’s reminded of just how much he loved them…and all the wrong that he’s done by them.

- Hadestown!Anon

Original Post | Astarion x Evie (Ace!Tav) Masterlist

Exactly this!

I was actually thinking it could be the same sweltering heat as it’s his misguided attempt to replicate the world above and the summer they seems to always leave him for. Evie/Tav berates him, “it ain’t right and it ain’t natural”. But Ascended!Astarion always argues back “Lover, everything I do, I do it for the love of you”.

Honestly you can keep the same beats of the show as Astarion has expanded his control of the underdark. People above sometimes go down below to strike a deal, becoming his spawn in exchange for what they think will be an end to their suffering.

Eurydice is one of them and Orpheus, a bard, goes down below to get her back.

Orpheus then plays the same song Evie/Tav played for Astarion all those years ago. They never wrote it down, all the best songs live in memory. It has been passed down through the years until nobody knew where it came from. Astarion hears it and remembers who he was, who Evie/Tav was to him. And then they dance.

.

.

.

Also, as an aside, as much as I love Chant (Reprise) on the Original Broadways cast recording I keep thinking about Chant II from the 2017 live recording. Specifically Persephone singing to Eurydice which is cut from the official Broadway run.

Love was when he came to me

Begging on his bended knees

To please have pity on his heart

And let him lay me in the dirt

I felt his arms around me then

We didn’t need a wedding bed

Dark seeds scattered on the ground

Wild birds were flying around

That’s when I became his wife

But that was in another life

That was in another world

When I was a young girl!

[fangirlanxiety74]

TELL ME ABOUT TED. Headcanons you have for him, anything... Can be silly or serious.

Someone... SOMEONE'S ASKING ME ABOUT MY HEADCANONS?! IT'S BEEN YEARS SINCE SOMEONE'S ASKED ME ABOUT MY HEADCANONS!! HOLD ON, I MADE A DOCUMENT!! /ref/hj

In actuality, I did genuinely make a google doc. But it's not ready to be shared yet, so I'll share the highlights.

First off, the game manual lies. He is NOT 44. He's 33 at OLDEST. I kind of consider him more like 29/30. Just barely.

He grew up in South Carolina hehe, farm boy

Bisexual disaster but I think this is kinda just obvious.

He is the oldest between him and his 5 siblings!!! And adding onto this, he is SUCH a good older brother. I don't care if everyone else disagrees, he could be the worst man alive but the one good thing someone could say was that he took care of his siblings.

If you know Ayano from Kagerou Project, I think he's a lot like her when he's younger. Like 8/9 years old. He tried so hard to protect them all from their parents and keep them happy. He'd sacrifice so much for them, it's why he kinda,, went into the extreme of being so,, entitled as a grown up. Ykwim???

Just imagine. With the ice caves, moving without thinking to save the others before himself? His brain subconsciously doing what he knows best; sacrificing what he has for others.

Selflessness as a core trait for Ted, please.

Another thing relating to his siblings: He knows how to do ballet!! And he's REALLY good at it. He actually has a lot of fun doing it. One of his sisters wanted to, but she was too afraid to take lessons alone, so he went along with her in secret. Didn't get caught for years. (She stopped lessons once he got forced out of them)

He talks a little like a New-Yorker, or at the very least, that transAtlantic accent (yk like from the old movies?) to try and play off as that kind of guy like Great Gatsby.

His actual accent is Southern. Sometimes it slips out when he's like, extremely flustered/angry, but it's such a rare thing.

He can't stand the sound of someone crying, it immediately makes him angry. Take that, and yk, Ellen or Benny constantly crying... Yeaaaah. (This is also due to his siblings).

This is obvious, he forces himself into doing a lot of masculine things that he doesn't like to appear older/wiser/better, insert whatever word you wanna use that translates to "I am insecure about myself" lol

Okay this last one is really important to me and like. It. Needs its own special paragraph. He is a creative person in his soul. He loves to learn, he loves to write, he loves to read and dance and sing and draw and he has such a huge imagination and love for creativity. You can see it in his psychodrama with how it plays out like a full-blown Grimms Fairytale, the monster he imagined that no one else could see, the line in the radio drama "Am I the last storyteller, telling the last story...?"

He's a storyteller. He has so much to say and share, and he would've done something creative with his life if he had the option, but the abuse he faced and the societal expectations placed on him forced him to,, give it all up. Made him realize he could never have that. Which is why, at least in the game, AM chose him. Ted had so much potential to create, and just... gave it up. For seemingly nothing. Why wouldn't that make AM mad, who can't create, can't even imagine or wonder?

AKA Theatre Kid Ted canon, let it be known

I have like, also. I have a somewhat-AU of Omori for the ihnm cast, and Ted takes the role of Basil. I think Dream Basil vs RW Basil fit a lot of what he is as a kid vs an adult, or at least aspects of both due.

I also have a Hadestown AU of him with my self-insert where he takes the role of Eurydiceeee.... Like. Guys, Hadestown fans, hear me out. Ted singing "Flowers." AM singing "Hey Little Songbird" to Ted. PLEASE HEAR ME CAN YOU HEAR ME??? ARE YOU LISTENING??? /J

There's so much more I can say but this is getting so long I will definitely share more if people want nfjkdc bUT THANK YOU FOR ASKING!!!

[milflaszlo]

the ground vs the sky in hadestown

(in which i go very long on hadestown's lighting design to strengthen my eurydice = hades, orpheus = persephone agenda)

TL;DR: eurydice and hades are ground, orpheus and persephone are sky. the "ground" characters need the "sky" characters to be free, to dream, to remember that there can be a better world than this.

all screenshots used in this post are from a video by @medium-observation, thank you for your service as always

there's a ton of evidence in the show for this dichotomy, with the most obvious and literal one being the lighting associated with each character. during how long, hades and persephone take turns to sing, and as it switches between them the lighting changes too -- orange for him, blue for her.

orange for hades feels fairly obvious considering hadestown as a setting is bathed entirely in warm colors. per lighting designer bradley king:

Hadestown is very furnace-like: amber, orange, and rust.

persephone gets blue, which she brings with her at the beginning of livin' it up on top.

so that's what i mean when i say ground vs sky. for hades it's pretty literal - the ground is his domain, but it also reflects how he "keeps his head low, he keeps his back bending". persephone gets the blue of the sky because it symbolizes freedom - not just being free but feeling free. from the NYTW version of livin' it up on top:

Give me a sky that you can't buy Or sell at any price

the sky is a big thing for hades and persephone, because it's the one thing he can never give her. he expresses how he feels about that in chant:

Lover, I was lonesome So I laid a power grid In the ground on which you stood And wasn't it electrifying When I made the neon shine? Silver screen, cathode ray Brighter than the light of day

to him, that's the closest thing he can give her to a sky, which he hopes will outshine the real daylight (though of course that's not what she really wants from him).

in our lady of the underground, everything persephone offers up is also sky-related (moon, wind, stars)

I got a sight for the sorest eye When was the last time you saw the sky?

ok so we've established the hades and persephone part of this. what does this have to do with orpheus and eurydice? because the exact same lighting design is present with them, too - and it's especially clear in wedding song:

when eurydice sings during this song she's bathed in yellow and amber. then orpheus sings and the blue light starts creeping in to show how slowly, and despite herself, she's beginning to believe in him.

this all culminates in the dance they do in all i've ever known, where the entire stage is bathed in persephone's dark blue. the literal meaning in the scene is that it's nighttime, but the color - and choreography - is eurydice finally letting herself be free and untethered from the ground.

But when I saw you all alone against the sky It's like I’d known you all along

from 'working on a song':

It was a brief choreographic / staging moment, after the lovemaking, when the lovers lay on their backs side by side, holding hands and looking up at the sky. At the stars. It reminded me of how the stars had played such an important role in the early Vermont version of the show, with the Fates naming the constellations, and the idea of our destinies being “written in the stars.” And it moved me, I think, because of the knowledge of where our lovers were headed: a world without stars.

i actually find this dichotomy especially interesting because of the associations with the characters and the colors. temperament-wise, you'd probably say hades is "cold" and persephone is "warm", which is true. but hades gets the warm colors and persephone gets the cold ones.

why? because hades' orange is the suffocating kind of man-made heat, whereas persephone's blue is the endless possibility of the sky. and yet, artificial warmth is still warmth, while the open air can be bitterly cold... something that eurydice knows very well, and is the reason why she makes the choice she does.

during epic iii, when orpheus begins to sing, the scene is still orange. then as his song begins, the light on the walls becomes blue, like he's actually finding that "crack in the wall" to let the sky shine through. from a cut song that orpheus would sing called cloud machine (per 'working on a song'):

There’s a crack in the wall It’s a little bit wider It’s a little bit wider, that’s all

then, after the climax of the song, when the scene re-settles, the light goes back to being orange. but as soon as hades remembers the melody and he and persephone begin to dance, the light turns blue again, like the exact same thing is happening to hades that happened to eurydice in all i've ever known -- he's remembering how it feels to let himself be free.

ok i think that's about it. thanks for reading this super long post starring my brainworms

[roguelov]

Imagine you found a new musical, a new tune to sing as you do chores in your apartment or wondering the Dreaming

Hadestown

You were captivated by the retelling of an old Greek story, you were enthralled by the music and devotions of love, and you were brought to your knees by the tragedy. And you were utterly oblivious, and were not explicitly told yet, that Orpheus was Dream’s child.

So, one day, you were in the Dreaming with earbuds in, mindlessly doing a random hobby - crocheting, doodling, knitting, just anything to keep your hands busy - in your shared bedroom. You started to sing under your breath, singing about a love who is saying to wait for them, they will find them again.

Dream then strolled into the bedroom, seeking you out.

Your voice was soft, and a low mumbling in hopes of matching the beautifully music. Under your breath, you sang, “Wait for me, I’m coming/ Wait, I’m coming with you -“

Dream froze.

He knew that song. He knew all of it. He heard the first note constructed so long ago in a dream. And just like then, his heart ached.

Feeling a presence, you glanced over and smiled. “Hi, Dream.”

However, your eyes quickly noticed a crack in his statuesque features. A frown weighed on the corners of his lips, his eyes were distant and gazed ahead locked on somewhere you could not see. He was thrown back into time, trapped in old painful memories.

You stood up, dropping your things on the couch. Your earbuds jammed into your pockets, pausing the heartbreakingly sweet music. “Dream?”

His eyes swiveled, locking back onto you - you who was directly in front of him. He said nothing. His throat constricted, betraying him.

“Are you okay?” You asked, concerned.

Pushing down his emotions, he spoke calmly, “I am.”

Your lips thinned, unconvinced.

“Can -“ His request was on the tip of his tongue. He hadn’t thought of Orpheus in so long, and his heart broke all over again as if he heard the devastating news for the first time. “- can I listen to your music?”

“Oh? Uh, sure.”

It was an odd request, but you wouldn’t deny him. You had shared your music before countless times. However, you knew there was something else, some other reasoning. One you would not pry right now. You pulled out one earbud and passed it over. Once you both had a bud in, you pressed play on your phone.

The music cut back to life.

Dream closed his eyes, listening to the story he knew well.

“Dream?”

He opened his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You just seem … off,” you pointed out.

“I am.” He repeated his answer from earlier. You nodded in defeat. So instead, you fell back into the music until Dream spoke up. “Could you sing for me?”

You stared at him dumbfounded. You laughed once, “Why? I’m not even half as good as the actual singers.”

“You are good enough for me.”

You blinked, and soon your surprise melted into adoration. You shocking your head, smiling, “You really want me to sing?”

“Just for a bit.”

His eyes begged.

“Ok, only for you.”

You began to hum under your breath, and slowly but quietly sing along with the music.

Dream smiled to himself. A sorrowful one. His boy, his little Orpheus, was alive, just for this small moment. He was beside his father, inspiring just like his mother.

Dream would later tell you everything. He would spill into every childhood story about Orpheus, to all of his hobbies and interests. And you would be there hanging onto each of his words, and comforting Dream when he asked.

[eurydices-carnation774]

INFODUMP TIME!!!

So a few weeks or so ago me and my friend @likesaly were discussing Hadestown and we accidentally created a modern/influencer AU and it’s been rotating in my head ever since

Ignore if some things are a little out of character. I do not care because this is me being self indulgently cringey

Minor spoilers and a few (vague) NSFW references under the cut

-Eurydice

Eurydice is a tumblr girlie, and we all know it I fear. She posts a lot of outfit stuff that accidentally gets reposted to Pinterest. She also, often shit talks Hades on tumblr and screenshots his twitter posts and reuploads them onto here and just calls him a bitch. These ALSO get reposted onto Pinterest.

I don’t think she particularly falls under any specific alt genre, but falls into TikTok’s “Dommy mommy” cliche because of the black dress and combat boots.

She frequently posts about stupid shit Orpheus is doing and then later updates on how he somehow made the entire house smell like mangos (he made ramen with monster instead of water)

Definitely semi popular blog on tumblr

-Orpheus

He posts about playing guitar on TikTok! However, this has accidentally caused the issue of his TikTok comments being filled with:

“Weird way to propose”

“Omg his hands”

And on and on. You know the comments

Anyways, he later posted a video with Eurydice and mentioned that they were dating in the caption and instead got the:

“I hate couples being happy”

“I hope y’all find out you’re cousins”

Comments. Orpheus cannot win

He makes random food combos on occasion, Eurydice hates him for this one. She will always willingly try it but also hates that he keeps making the house smell like disgustingly sweet fruit or just burnt.

-Hades

Posts about his shit politics takes (likely higher up in politics standpoints. Idk I don’t pay attention) and his wife, that’s it

Him and Eurydice are always in a weird cross platform fight between twitter and tumblr

Eurydice posted a photo of Orpheus once and he screenshotted it and reposted it with the caption

“Why is your boyfriend a wet rag of a man”

-Persephone

Runs an Instagram page about plants, except when you check her story it’s always about something that happened while she was drunk

Calls hades out on why he needs to stop the capitalism twitter page

He won’t listen

Her and Eurydice post photos together sometimes!

Hermes:

That one guy who goes stupidly popular once every 3 months for posting a stupidly funny video

Doesn’t spend much time on social media, but when he does he’s viral for 3 weeks

[ananxiousgenz]

TPP HADESTOWN AU PART 4

ANOTHA ONE. i am so sorry guys, but the muse has possessed me and i literally cannot stop writing. this is no longer a flash fic. i am now a slave to the au. this time will be a direct continuation of part 3 because honestly i wanted to keep writing that but i also just wanted to post it so consider this a kind of part 2 to part 3 if that makes sense

tpp mutuals come get your juice!!! @smidgen-of-hotboy @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @urjover @one-joe-spoopy @waters-and-the-wilde

when he said his name, juno heard it.

ringing in the background like the hum of a crystal wine glass.

the song.

when peter nureyev said his name, the song echoed with it.

"your name has the same melody," juno breathed, eye wide and searching for some kind of answers on the face of this strange, beautiful man. how could his name have the song of spring laced through it?

nureyev shot him a sideways look and took a sip of his drink. "so. what do you do for a living, lady who's going to marry me?" he questioned, leaning back in his chair and looking juno over with a gaze he could only describe as skeptical.

"oh! well, I work here at the bar with rita. she's over there. but you've met her already so I don't know why I'm introducing her."

rita gave a friendly wave from her perch behind the bar.

"I also, um. I, uh. I sing. sometimes. not all the time. i'm not bad at it. typically when I do sing, someone will give me a couple bucks. it's nice. oh, and uh, I can play guitar too, but I haven't done it in years, and to be honest, I don't really want to-"

nureyev cut juno off, looking away disinterestedly and downing the rest of his drink. "that's nice. so you're like all the other bar workers in existence. that doesn't exactly sound like something I'd want to marry."

suddenly, the butterflies that had been gradually building in juno's stomach began to unexpectedly drop dead.

"heyyyyyyy, that's not very nice, mista nureyev. mista steel isn't like all the otha ladies you eva met! he's a very supa awesome lady who I love workin' with and-oh oh oh! mista steel! you GOTTA tell him about that song you're workin' on! it's so pretty! and important! I'm sure mista nureyev would LOVE to hear about that!" rita cried, bounding off the bar and hustling over to deliver another drink to the table.

"oh, uh, yeah! I'm working on this song to bring spring back again," juno said, feeling mildly embarrassed that rita brought it up with this man who was still basically a total stranger. "it's not done, honestly, it needs a lot of work. but, when i'm finished with it, it will hopefully fix.....everything."

"wait just a moment." nureyev's brow furrowed and juno's stomach twisted at the sight. even when he was skeptical and defensive and bone-tired, he was still so damn attractive. gods, what juno wouldn't give to just kiss him right now- focus, steel, he's trying to talk to you-

"so you say this song will bring spring back again?"

"yup! at least it should."

"that's...." nureyev placed a finger over his lips in thought. "I haven't seen a proper spring in at least a decade, maybe more. the world has been so wrong in recent years... I shudder to think where it would all end up without the return of warmer weather."

"well, that's the idea with the song. I want to fix it. all of it. when the song is done it should put the world back on track. more sunshine, springs, falls, rain and flowers. you know. all the stuff that's just sort of been missing. maybe you could help me out with it!" juno grinned a bit sheepishly.

"and why would I want to help?" his eyes were cold, almost as cold as the biting wind and frost outside, but juno thought he saw the beginning of a thaw at the edges of his facade.

"because, mista nureyev. he's real good at makin' people feel like life is worth livin' again with that music of his. also, he makes the BEST chocolate cake i've eva had! and frannie agrees with me!" rita chimed in, cleaning the bar top as best she could with her short stature.

juno snorted involuntarily, marveling at rita's ability to constantly be focused on food. "it's true, I won a local competition a few years back for that cake."

nureyev's face had half a smile on it now, and the butterflies in juno's stomach turned into a hurricane.

"so you can make people feel alive again? that's quite a gift, juno. but what else can you offer me?"

"huh?"

"say, for example, if we were to get married. who would pay for the wedding rings? times have been hard, and gold is scarce. how would you do it?"

juno thought for a moment. "the rivers. they've got plenty of gold in them, and if my song works, they'll give it all to us for wedding rings."

nureyev's eyes glinted with something juno suspected was either curiosity or suspicion.

"what about a wedding feast? or a bed? good food and better beds are hard to come by these days. what would you do about that, juno?"

"the trees would take care of the wedding feast, and the birds would take care of the bed."

"with your song." nureyev cocked an eyebrow as though it was a question.

"well, yeah, of course."

"you talk a lot about that song. why don't you sing it for me?"

a wave of panic stuttered through juno's mind. "I can't. I told you it's not finished."

"you said you wanted to take me home and marry me, is that true?

a sly smile crossed nureyev's face, and goddammit it only made juno want him even more. "yes," he breathed.

"then sing the song for me, juno."

juno hesitated, then nodded in spite of himself. he shouldn't be doing this, he knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't help it.

he was in love.

and lovers need the spring like a flower needs sunshine. so he'd sing the sunshine back for peter nureyev.

he stepped back, breathed in, and let the notes flow from him like water from a faucet. the song flooded the room, hitting the walls and rushing back to his ears in perfect harmonies, and for a moment, he was back in that wheat field with benten, strumming guitar as he danced like a pheonix rising from the ashes, spinning around and around and around like he was the center of the universe.

and then the song ended. and juno was back in a shitty roadside bar, holding a perfect dahlia in his left hand, with peter nureyev staring at him now, eyes wide and sparkling.

"that's...... you...... how did you do that?" nureyev asked quietly, standing from the table on unsteady legs and taking the dahlia to examine it with shaking hands.

"i didn't do that, the song did," juno muttered as nureyev gently touched the immaculate petals of the dahlia, still damp with dew. rita beamed at juno from the bar and gave an overenthusiastic thumbs-up. juno just rolled his eyes again.

peter nureyev looked at him then, all of the previous frostiness gone from his eyes and something like amazement and love and hope spilling through them.

juno decided that he liked it when he looked like that. it made him feel like he really could fix the whole damn world with that song of his.

nureyev seemed to come to some sort of conclusion and slipped the dahlia into the buttonhole of his traveling coat. "so, what time does your shift end, my dear juno?"

juno thought for a minute. "uhhhh, the bar closes around 10. why?"

his eyes gleamed like a pair of stars as a smile twinkled on his lips. "didn't you say you were going to marry me?"

[madrone33]

I finally listened to Hadestown! 🎉

Starting with the Original Cast Recording, ‘cause might as well do it in release order. Loved it! Groovy music. Snickered. Cried. Wrote down my reaction as I went, so if you're chill with rambled thoughts and observations, here you go lol

(Soz for any typos, I was touch typing most of the time, and I've edited it but probs missed stuff)

Road to Hell (Live)

Oh it’s JAZZY. Huh. Didn't expect that, but I am living.

I like how at the start they’re simulating a train’s chugging.

Those call and response harmonies tho *chef's kiss*

Kinda reminds me of Udad.

Oh that’s Hermes!

“It’s a sad song” he says, while singing the boppiest of bops.

I like that “suitcase full of summertime” line.

“About someone... who tries.” Oho, we’re gettin into it now! *rubs hands together*

Also, I completely get now why Jorge said that first draft of EPIC: The Musical Hermes was like Hadestown.

Livin' It Up on Top (Live)

That’s a smooth transition👌

Persephone’s voice is really cool. Kinda rough texture?

Oh I didn’t realise Persephone and Hades would be having a turbulent relationship in this.

Oooh Orpheus’ voice is smooth.

They’re all so happy huh. Welp, you know there’s gonna be a crash in their future.

Orpheus seems really grateful for Persephone’s... graciousness? When he said that she'll always fill their cups and they'll raise them to her and stuff. Theory: either she’ll have a soft spot for him later, or he’ll feel betrayed and blindsided by the more cold side of her later.

All I've Ever Known (Live)

I don’t know anything about Eurydice, but is this her song?

Ah yeah Orpheus is singing, so it must be.

Oop. Foreshadowing.

Way Down Hadestown (Live)

Hermes is back!

“Bored to death” HA

“Graveyard” wow the puns/metaphors are going hard XD

I can’t tell who’s singing lmao. This is like when I listened to Hamilton for the first time. I’ll need lyrics, or familiarity RIP

The coins as the percussion/tambourine is a nice touch.

Hades’ voice is DEEP.

They haven’t mentioned gods yet, I don’t think? Just the Fates, right? It sounds more like a mining operation metaphor for mythos right now, hmm.

Epic II (Live)

King of diamonds and spades - like the playing card suits, but also like the mining operation.

It’s the La la la la thing from Wolfy’s animatic! Almost. A different rendition - I bet I'll hear that later 👀

Why is it called Epic II? Where’s 1? Am I missing something?

Chant (Live)

Oh they’re doing overlapping meodies!!

Ah wait this is Eurydice now, gotta go back a few seconds to catch that. I keep getting her mixed up with Persephone 😅

Oh now we’ve got Eurydice and Orpheus relationship troubles? Huh, I kinda assumed they’d be the perfect couple till her death.

And a semi callback to her song, nice.

Hay Little Songbird (Live)

DAMN his voice is deep!

Is this Eurydice??

Is- Is Hades seducing her? To work for him of smth? Ummm.

Not the canary!

That shaker sounds like a rattlesnake, and it does not bode well for a little bird.

When the Chips are Down (Live)

Oh hey I was right! It is a metaphorical rattlesnake!

Does she choose to go to the Underworld of her own volition? I thought she like- died.

Gone I'm Gone (Live)

She does??

Ouch. She sounds so resigned.

Is this a metaphor for her starving to death? Oof.

The harmonies!!

Wait for Me (Live)

“Six feet under” oh yep.

“Lay low, stay outta sight” - getting Hamilton's Stay Alive vibes.

“Don’t look back” ah. FORESHADOWING.

Ohhh the River Styx being a high wall is so smart!

“And don’t look no one in the eye” I must be too deep in the Odyssey related fandoms, because I'm seeing puns where there are none lmao

The HARMONIES!

Poor Orpheus, but I mean, he was kinda being a bit… naive? If he didn’t prepare for winter and just went off in his own head to make songs?

Why We Build the Wall (Live)

Free from who?

Enemy? 👀

(Yes, I'm aware I'm being led into asking all the questions he wants me to ask, but in my defence, it's very effective.)

Oh huh. Wasn't expecting it to be poverty, tho maybe I should've.

Him calling them “My children” plus the chanting is uh. Why does this sound like cult propaganda?

His voice sounds like the Ozymandias poem guy.

Also giving Frollo “She ran, I pursued” vocal vibes.

“Behind closed doors” - ominous.

Ha! Ok nice subversion.

Our Lady of the Underground (Live)

Persepone is a drug dealer XD

That’s a strange note on “there’s a crack in the wall”

Oh no, am I supposed to remember all these band member names? *crying*

Way Down Hadestown II (Live)

Bringing back motifs I see.

The pickaxes as percussion is cool.

Oop, Eurydice is getting a bit of a wake up call.

Chant II (Live)

Ooooh does the ‘backdoor’ Hermes meant, mean that Orpheus doesn’t have to ‘die’ to get there? ‘Cause he didn’t sign anything, which is a metaphor for him not actually being dead in the myth, so he can still leave.

“Hungry for the underworld” - the pomegranate?

And now Eurydice and Orpheus are singing half the La la la la tune each as if to each other from across the Underworld!

Ooh I LIKE those slant rhymes! "Young man, you can strum your lyre, I have strung the world in wire."

Oh this is where Orpheus sings his plea!! I know this is a thing because of Udad's Underworld Blues lol.

Epic III (Live)

The harmonies 🥺

Oh! It’s that part from Wolfy's animatic :O

I’m tearing up bro.

Just thinking that Eurydice was so upset with Orpheus for focusing on writing his song about Hades and Persephone, but it's that very song that is giving him a chance to sway Hades' mind. But on the other hand, if he'd focused less on the song, he never would've had to use it, y'know?

Word to the Wise (Live)

Ha the Fates(?) doing Hades’ inner monologue like, yeah bro u screwed yourself.

Uh oh this is probs where Hades comes up with the ultimatum. Wait no don't-

His Kiss the Riot (Live)

Those strings are creepy.

Belladonna? Oh the poisonous flower.

Did he call Orpheus the Jack of Hearts?

That acordian is awesome.

Fuck, I knew it.

He sounds like the guy who does the creepily ominous monologue in Micheal Jackson's Thriller.

Promises (Live)

Oh huh. It’s my theory from the 2nd song but it's Eurydice feeling betrayed that the world isn't always plentiful and not Orpheus?

Those strings are gorgeous!

Oh! A duet!

When the couple actually works out their shit:

“I do” omgggg!

KEEP WALKING. DONT LOOK BACK.

Wait for Me II (Live)

Aww that’s nice. Persephone and Hades are gonna try too!

Oh no not the “wait” like in Hurricane-

Doubt Come In (Live)

Oh noooooo

KEEP GOING. JUST KEEP GOING. SHE’S WITH YOU

OH NOOOO DON’T FALTER

LISTEN TO HER! HOLD ON! KEEP GOING!

... Oh god

Road to Hell II (Live)

NO THERE'S A FUCKING AD

Hermes sounds so sad but resigned. Like, 'Oh well. I knew it would turn out like this, but I'd hoped.' Which like. SAME.

The instruments stripped away so it's only silence and one voice is so good.

I can just imagine Orpheus collapsed shell shocked on stage as Hermes not unkindly pushes him to go on.

That reprise and ending is so fucking good AHHH omg no regrets. Some regrets. Whatever, it was good.

... Time to listen to it again with lyrics :D

And then I'm gonna listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording!

[brighteststar707]

I was digging through my drafts last night and found this drabble from sometime last year. It's a little reset theory idea I was playing around with that ended with me writing the 'Tell Me A Story' short. I was inspired at the time by both Hadestown (the cyclical nature of the tragedy) and the Howl's moving castle film (when Sophie meets Howl in the past and asks her to wait for him).

I'm not sure if I'll ever flesh out this idea entirely so I thought I'd release this (unedited!) instead of leaving it to gather dust in my folder.

You already know how it ends. You’ve walked down this road so many times before.

A few months ago, you held Saeyoung in your arms as he drifted off to sleep. Usually you’re the one to fall asleep first. He always teases you about it. Tonight, though, you want to be awake for as long as possible.

You gently caress his head and whisper against his skin “Wait for me.”

As you feel the darkness wrap around you, heavier than sleep, you wonder if he heard you. If, somewhere in his dreams, he hears your voice echoing. Wait for me.

What a cruel request. If only you were selfless enough to let him forget you.

But you’re not. Which is why, tonight, you find yourself out late at night, staring at your phone screen waiting for it to hit midnight. When you close your eyes, you can still see the lock screen image flashing at you. The numbers, stubbornly stuck at 11:58PM.

Tonight, it’s cold.  It’s been a while since you’ve experienced a winter here. Last time, you managed to spend a full year with him, August to August. Ironically, your least favourite time of year. Your memories are full of unforgiving heat. Nights where you pulled him outside with you, filled with a giddy childlike joy.

You have to work to keep the memories of each trip separate. To not let them bleed together. They all differ from each other slightly. The time of year, the persona you wore. The only thing that remained the same was the ending.

Finally, you feel your phone buzz with a message.

Unknown: …Hello…?

And finally, it begins. There’s always something magical about your first conversation with everyone.

You step into the apartment and resist the urge to look up at the security camera you know is pointed at you. Then, you turn around and give it a big smile and wave anyway. You imagine him watching you from his dark desk. Does he feel a small spark of recognition? Does he hear your voice, as if from a dream, begging him to wait for you?

You’re antsy. Desperate, even.

The first time he calls you, the air is electric. It’s like your whole being has been waiting to hear him again. You feel a warmth spreading through your fingertips.

You have to act startled, like a stranger. You shouldn’t make him suspicious.

Shouldn’t.

To pass the time, you let yourself imagine doing all the things you shouldn’t be doing.

In your dreams, you leave the apartment and go to his house. You’ve picked up enough Arabic to get past the security system (sometimes, in your more self-indulgent fantasies, it recognizes you and lets you in without a fuss; we’ve been waiting for you). All the lights are off, you find him sitting at his desk.

He turns around (he was expecting Vanderwood). You grab him by the shoulders and make him look at your face. You look into his eyes and will him to remember.

Sometimes he remembers. His expression softens into a smile and he holds you in his arms. He kisses every part of your face and tells you that he’s missed you.

In the more realistic fantasy, the Saeyoung you find is guarded. He is hostile and scared. He doesn’t know how to hope yet. You beg him to remember, recount memories of days together. tell him stories of two people so deeply in love that they’d cross time over and over again to be together. 

He doesn’t believe you, and you already feel your heart shatter.

“You’re telling me stories. Fairy tales.”

“They’re memories. Yours and mine.”

Then it stops.  

[thebreakfastgenie]

honestly the part of mash that i consider the time loop IS the syndication of it all. it’s already so screwy with time and now it must all happen over and over and over again, in its unstuck messy order or out of it, because we need it to, because it moves us every time we see it and we must keep it playing. it’s like the thing in the musical hadestown where they know they have to tell the story again, because we must keep ourselves hoping that things could turn out better, even if the story remains the same. that’s mash to me. the war goes on. which war is it anymore? we tell the story again, it all happens again, because every time it makes us laugh, cry, get angry, it keeps us connected to each other and to our humanity. or something like that wow i got maudlin as hell in your inbox excuse me. i’m normal about mash and i’m normal about cyclical forms of storytelling (lying)

Yeah I love the meta cyclical thing!!!! My thing is just that I'm a pedant and that doesn't make the narrative a time loop (though you can make a time loop out of it, plenty of fic writers do). MASH going on as long as it did had its pros and cons, but one of the pros is this sort of feeling that war is endless, that time loses its meaning.

I think what I dislike about the time loop thing is the "theory" approach. It's like "what if MASH is actually a time loop" like "what if this cartoon is actually a dream this character had while in a coma" or "what if this entire medical drama was the fantasy of an autistic child staring at a snowglobe" (iykyk). And you know, the idea that the time loop "explains" why the timeline is the way it is, or that that needs an explanation at all. It's not that deep! It is very funny.

I haven't seen or listened to Hadestown (I'm the opposite of most musical theatre fans and I rarely listen to shows I haven't seen, although there have been exceptions) and I'm not really the target audience because I don't care about Orpheus and I don't get that "maybe this time he won't do it" feeling from that particular story, but from what I've heard about how they do the ending it's really cool!! It would probably work on me if I saw it tbh.

I love cyclical storytelling! And I think a lot of people in the MASH fandom like the same things I like with regards to playing with time, I notice that when I get into actual conversations. To me the real potential is in the ability of time tropes to portray how something feels. This is why I keep coming back to Slaughterhouse-5 and the idea of being unstuck in time. What Vonnegut did was give us this war veteran who is trying to live out his life, but is frequently, against his will, transported back in time to the most traumatic experiences of his life. Sometimes he's abducted, taken to a place where he is an alien, observed and put on display for everyone. It's PTSD, but made physical by science fiction elements. It's brilliant. And MASH is so ripe to do stuff like that! You can use the funky timeline and the meta of the show lasting 11 years, being rerun again and again and shown in syndication out of order, to dig into that. And I mean I literally have a time loop WIP so.

I really enjoyed this ask <3

[starlene]

1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11 and 37 for the musical theater asks! (no need to answer them all if I picked too many, I just couldn't choose between them)

1. How did you first get into musical theatre?

Depends on when I decide I really became a fan. Could be any of these, really, depending on how I look at it:

I saw Grease on TV when I was a kid and really liked it

I loved ABBA as a tween, and then, the Mamma Mia! world tour came to Helsinki

My mom started pestering me about going to theatre when I was a teenager, since I had only ever seen one play as a tween, and she thought going again would be educational for me (seeing Mamma Mia! in an ice rink didn't count as real theatre for mom); I decided I wanted to see the then-current Finnish production of Cats

4. Who is your favourite musical theatre composer?

Fredrik Kempe. I hope he'll keep giving us new musicals to love and cherish for decades to come.

5. Who is your favourite musical theatre lyricist?

I don't know if I really have one.

I enjoy thinking about and looking into musical libretti, in the sense that I want to find all the information within, and I do enjoy a bit of clever wordplay every now and then – but I'm one of the least poetic people you'll ever meet, and in general I don't really vibe with lyrics as a form of poetry. I know why, say, Sondheim is so revered, but I don't feel it very deeply myself when I listen to his songs. Does that make any sense? Since I'm not a person who feels lyrics with all their heart (like I can feel music, sometimes), I just don't feel comfortable choosing any lyricist as a personal favourite.

6. Who is your favourite musical theatre director?

Jakob Höglund. The absolute MVP of the Finnish musical theatre scene, for me.

I don't always go see his shows (I always prioritise interesting subject matter etc. higher than the director when I'm choosing which shows to see, no matter how much I like the director) – but whenever I do, I'm always in awe. He's also a choreographer, and he has a very unique, beautiful way of adding movement to the musicals he directs. It's a style that definitely wouldn't mash well with every show out there (and with the way many musicals are licenced and strictly superwised by their rightholders, I'm sure there are many musicals he'll never be allowed to touch) – but with the right material, his style absolutely shines. His Så som i himmelen was the most beautiful production I've ever seen, and likely ever will see, on Helsinki's biggest musical stage.

Tbh, I think without Jakob Höglund, I'd feel a lot more pessimistic about the current and future state of Finnish musical theatre than I already do. The musicals that he directs aren't just good versions of the source material – they're always new and different, not for the sake of being different, but simply because they're so uniquely and recognisably his. It's a vibe I don't get with many musical directors, and I love to see it.

The day he'll tackle either The Great Comet or Hadestown... that'll be a happy day indeed.

7. Who is your favourite musical theatre actor?

Alexander Lycke.

He's been a part of my musical enthusiast journey ever since I really kicked my musical madness into high gear with the 2010 Finnish-Swedish production of Les Mis, with him as Valjean. There are many other musical actors whose work I enjoy, but no one that's involved with so many different shows and experiences and memories as Alex. He's important to me in a way no other musical actor is, or probably ever will be.

Besides, he's the only performer whose Bring Him Home I actually and truly enjoy instead of only tolerating it. Without him, I really wouldn't think such a feat would even be possible.

11. What is your favourite overture?

I always love a good overture! Let's say Chicago's, simply because it slaps. Honourable mention to Så som i himmelen's as it exists on the cast recording, because it's absolutely beautiful... but also nothing like the onstage version, so it doesn't really count.

37. Is there a musical lyric, line, moment, etc. that lives in your head rent-free?

"Ze Führer wasn't a mousy little mamma's boy! Ze Führer was BUUUUTCH!"

Ask me some musical theatre questions for old and cynical musical theatre fans

[jaxs-beanie]

Levi Kreis Hermes Headcanons

Levi Kreis recently posted an amazing video on Cameo about his headcanons for playing Hermes in the National Tour of Hadestown. He kept a 160-page Hermes journal filled with his own headcanons about Hermes--it started with the basics of Hermes from mythology and went from there.

In his imagination journal, Calliope meant more to his Hermes than any woman he'd been in contact with, and Orpheus may or may not be actually Hermes' son. Regardless of paternity, Orpheus was a son to Levi’s Hermes, and he had ideas about what it was like the day Calliope left Orpheus with him for him to raise, and why she left and who she gave her loyalties to. The first year without Calliope was hard for Hermes too and that informed the bond he had with Orpheus--he had a whole backstory about how they met and the love they shared.

Levi’s Hermes taught Orpheus how to play the lyre, laying in the grass, he thinks 'he can learn it by ear, he's talented, this is beautiful' and he wrote Calliope letters on a regular basis to keep her up to date on how Orpheus was growing. “I also needed him to do the one thing Calliope asked from me before she left which was 'help him find his gift, his voice, his place in the world.‘ When Orpheus is on the turntable and singing LAAADADADADADA (his words) he imagines Calliope there in the astral realm seeing that Hermes got him to that point, and that's when Hermes feels he made good on the promise.

That also has an impact on his relationship with Persephone, who he has a bit of a crush on but more than that they've been the longest of friends, and Persephone would share with him that Hades was...that things weren't right at home. They had conversations about what was going on, and it means a lot to him to see Hades and Persephone together because in sharing her pain Hermes has lived through it.

Levi also talked about a moment no other Hermes had, where he and Kevyn Morrow had a face-off during Why We Build the Wall. Hermes refused to sing along, Hades noticed and got in his face about it, and he still refused to sing. 'I love that Kevyn and I came up with that because it not only speaks to the dynamics between us--he is my uncle, yes we are all gods but he is my uncle, and that's a power dynamic you see in that moment. i think that's the moment of the show that i am most angry with him. and i think that he feels that, and Kevyn’s cheeky grin during that whole moment is so interesting.”

[chthonic-cassandra]

Tagged by @awildwickedslip

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

111

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

312,131

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write a little across a lot of fandoms. The only fandoms for which I have written substantial amounts are Dracula, Greek mythology, and Shakespeare's plays. I have active projects right now in Dracula, Xena, and Penny Dreadful.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Shattered Mirrors (Jonathan in Dracula's castle), Make It Through the Wintertime (Hadestown Persephone character study), To Burn the Castle Down (Jonathan angst), Compromise (Dracula darkest timeline AU), Minor Initiations (different Dracula darkest timeline AU)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I have been trying to get in the habit of it. I think it's nice to express my appreciation and try to be a bit more social about all of it.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This is a hard question; so, so many of the things I write are angsty. Specifically as far as endings, I am realizing that an extremely high proportion of my stories end with a character aware that they are about to die or that something else terrible is about to happen to them, and in some way accepting it. This is of course tragedy but I'm not sure it is quite angst.

Outside of this pattern, I think that To Burn the Castle Down is almost over the top angsty (it's not one I like to reread), as is For Every Grief That's Offered (yet another Dracula darkest timeline AU). Both are from ~15 years ago, and I would write them differently now.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Ha. Do I write happy endings? Sometimes I do bittersweet hopefulness, of which I think Fidelity (poly Mina post-canon) and Still in the Realm of the Sun (Code Name Verity Julie/Maddie fix it) lean most heavily on the sweet side. The Caucus-Race (Alice in Wonderland, the Dodo enters politics) is legitimately happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not to my face for a long time, at least not in a serious way.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do not.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not much. Many years ago I did a couple - a Dracula-Greek mythology and a Dracula-Vampire Chronicles, and also a little Nosferatu-Pied Piper of Hamelin which is the only one of those still up.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes - someone translated Foreigners (Aida, Amneris character study) into Mandarin. There might have been another but I don't remember it.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

No, though I once told @forthegothicheroine I would and then bailed on her, for which I continue to feel some guilt

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

To write, certainly Mina/Dracula/Jonathan. But that's not from an actually shipping it perspective. What I tend to write and what I ship when reading or watching something aren't all that related.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Mood, imagery, psychological interiority, small-scale structure/pace

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut, happy endings, writing anything long form

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it in a language that I didn't myself know, and the only non-English language I know well enough to do that in is ancient Greek, which I guess I could use somewhere but it hasn't felt necessary. Several installments of Compromise have important scenes of switching between languages so I've thought about it, but keeping all the text in English let me do a particular language-related reveal in this last installment which pleased me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Either Lord of the Rings or Phantom of the Opera

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Right now it has to be Compromise as a whole, but this is hard. There are a lot of other things I've written that haven't gotten as much attention as that one but which are very dear to me, but as a series Compromise means so much to me at the moment.

Too tired right now to tag anyone, but please consider yourself tagged if you'd like to do it!