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dracosollicitus · 2 years

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Fanfic Overview Review

Tagged by @aimmyarrowshigh

Tagging: @ashabellanars @glycerineclown @melanoradrood @brightboisterousbananas

and anyone else who wants to play!

How many works do you have on AO3?

239!

What’s your total AO3 word count?

2,539,517

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

If you count overlap, 20!

Star Wars (General)

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Marvel Cinematic Universe (General)

Captain America (Movies)

The Old Guard (Movie 2020)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Game of Thrones (TV)

Good Omens (TV)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Eternals (Movie 2021)

The Mandalorian (TV)

The Witcher (TV)

WandaVision (TV)

Hunger Games Series - All Media Types

The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Supernatural

The Punisher (TV 2017)

Hawkeye (TV 2021)

Thor (Movies)

Emma. (2020)

Are there any new fandoms you want to write for?

Nope, I have no impulse control - if I want to write for a fandom, I do! My hyperfixation is now your problem, sorry

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

let not time deceive you (you cannot conquer time) - 3436 kudos

Mise En Place - 3177 kudos

what did you bury before these hands pulled me from the earth (what were you digging) - 2727 kudos

What's Left of Kisses - 2697 kudos

Bending Space and Time - 2117 kudos

Which of your fics do you want more attention for?

My Shrunkyclunks fic, I Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust ! I do have lovely feedback on it, and I appreciate all of it, but if I have to pick for this meme, it's that one. It's handsdown one of my favorite things I've ever written, and I really like how I characterized Modern!Bucky and Cap!Steve in this sad, post-Snap shrunkclunks. Also the imagery in it, I don't hate, which is rare for me.

(Also I somehow wrote it before the pandemic and yet captured the big mood of the pandemic, so, oops)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I really, really try to, especially on WIPs. If a fic is finished and I don't respond, it's because it's not part of my regular writing cycle (update a chapter, bounce back to thank people for their comments from the last one, take a nap), and not because I don't super appreciate and treasure every single comment I get. I'm just a creature of habit!!! I respond to comments because I want people to know that I appreciate them taking the time to leave the comment, and I want them to feel like they've been heard! I think it makes people more likely to comment on fics (mine or otherwise!!) in the future!

What sorts of things do you normally write?

Whatever's rattlin around in this terrifying box o' mine. But also, uh, I'm probably going to write you a wild character based thing more than a conflict based thing. I try to ... do a three or four act structure on longer things. But. You've probably noticed that my conflicts are hella understated or painfully overwrought and it's bc honestly if I had my way all my fics would just be characters makin' out and bein' sad together and stuff.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

The fic that I ended sadly that I intended to end sadly is the Hades & Persephone Zukka AU that I wrote (what did you bury). Because source material. I've always wanted to go back and write the sequel of them on their next seasonal cycle of spring/reuniting, but I also get grumpy comments and bookmark notes from people now and then about how I ruined their day with my sad ending. And then I get grumpy.

What’s a fic that pushed you out of your comfort zone?

First fic I ever wrote, only because it was the first fic I ever wrote. I don't really have a comfort zone, and if I do, I haven't left it. Ya girl writes .... what she wants to write. Someone else can psychoanalyze it. Just don't tell me what you find out.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've written a Hunger Games/Star Wars fusion AU where Poe and Rey became Finnick and Annie and it was absolutely intended as a commentary on how fandom views actors/characters ... but. I wouldn't say that it was "crazy" - it was just an odd crossover, probs. But, uh, as of characters from different fandoms crossing over and hopping into a different fandom fic ... not to my memory? Which doesn't say a lot.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yep!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes!

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I deleted a Poe/Rey collection of WIPs that I *did* finish, but I'll probably never post. Also, Something Brewing is one that I really do have planned out/a lot written for, but I am psychologically incapable of finishing it for some reason.

What are you currently working on?

A few things! Here's three of them:

somewhere or other there must surely be: a Shrinkyclinks AU where Bucky breaks Winter Soldier conditioning and rescues the Maximoff Twins; years later, a modern Steve becomes their art therapist

Roll for Initiative: a Geraskier AU wherein a modern!Jaskier accidentally sends himself back in time with magical dice during a game of DnD; he thinks he's dreaming, especially when he meets a big sexy Witcher who's a mid-level boss in his DnD game. Plot twist: all magical abilities and skills of a DnD Bard? Jaskier has them. Trust me when I say he is Too Sexy to have that much Power.

Burn, Butcher, Burn (10 Minute Version) (Jaskier's Version): I just finished the last chapter, and it will probably be posted by the time I post this meme in the morning! oops! But, in this one, a Millennial!Jaskier meets Witcher Geralt in the 21st century; they fall in love, Geralt keeps breaking Jaskier's heart, and Jaskier keeps writing songs. He's a Witcher Universe Taylor Swift.

What are your writing strengths?

When my brain isn't fighting me in a back alley over a scrap of focus like a duet of rabid raccoons mangling each other over a crust of bread, I can write a lot! And pretty quickly.

Is it good? Hm. Please refer to the above simile for reference.

What are your writing weaknesses?

This feels like a job interview. Um. I am a Pantser by habit and tradition. I have a vague idea of what I want to write, I write non-linearly, and I also write emotionally. I 100% refuse to write if I don't want to, and I don't care if that means I don't write for weeks on end; which means if the Vibe ain't there, the Vibe ain't there and neither is the fic.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Most recent?

Secretly, it was Dramione fanfic in a journal I hid under my mattress. In my head, it was probably a HanLeia daydream fic. For the public consumption? It was actually a Kastle fic, but I deleted it in a panic very quickly. He brought her coffee. They touched mouths.

Most recent: The Witcher/Geraskier

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I really like I Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust.

I also really like PS I Know, a 1950s Damerey AU from early on in the pandemic. The plot actually works, albeit melodramatically (but it's meant to be a melodrama, shrug), and, I think it has a nice structure that I wouldn't mind reading in a real, hard copy/bound romance novel.

What fic are you most proud of?

I'm the most proud of let not time deceive you (you cannot conquer time). I think it's a solid longfic that I wrote where I had a strong grasp of where I was going, and where the imagery lines up really nicely!! Also, I was writing it in the first autumn of the pandemic, and people's feedback was so kind and helpful. They gave me a really strong sense that I was creating something that meant a lot to them, and was helping them during a dark time. For that reason mainly, I'm quite proud of it.

#fic meme #writing (Draco sollicitus)#what do i tag it now so that iphone people can see it?!

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stay-neurotic · 2 years

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Sooo... remember that Greek mythology ask game you reposted a while ago? I've got questions pal. :D

More specifically:

Asclepius

Atlas

Cyclopes

Hades

Icarus

Titans

Asclepius- Favourite animal?

deer! in reality they might be panicky and dumb but they're just so graceful and ethereal looking. my apt is cooovered in deer imagery and i want to get a tattoo of a three-eyed deer on my back!

Atlas- Favourite myth?

ohh, never really gave it much thought. hmm. persephone is the first one to come to mind. i always enjoyed the thought of her tryst with hades being far more mutual than the classic interpretations and how she gets to sneak off for part of the year to honeymoon with her lover from the underworld.

Cyclopes- What’s your favourite joke?

really drawing a blank for this. i'm not typically a jokester so i don't have many up my sleeve. but i'm an absolute slut for a well-timed "that's what she said" and you can also catch me hittin people with the "no YOU'RE [adjective]" to complete non-sequitors which will never not be funny to me

Hades- Greatest fear?

abandonment!!! family issues growing up means i always worry the ones i love are going to leave me and i'll die all alone. i try not to think about it too much but still spiral into panic attacks when people cancel plans on me

Icarus- How would you describe yourself?

such an open-ended question, there are so many angles to take here. i'd say i'm a slightly neurotic, super open person who wears my heart on my sleeve. flirty, free, with a lot of affection to give. shy at times but learning to break out of my social insecurities. as encouraging and kind as i can be to others with a solid line drawn on my own boundaries. very in tune with my own needs and unafraid to speak up for them. too stubborn to see red flags for what they are sometimes, though. also i'm a super hottie and a boss-ass bitch 🖤

Titans- If you could go anywhere in time, when would you want to go?

forward. definitely forward. it kills me when i think about how i'll never know the fate of the human race, the direction society and the world at large will take, the advancements in technology we're going to make. i'd love to jump forward to a time that's almost indistinguishable from where we are now -- five hundred years, maybe. if we're still around by then.

#sorry this took so long to answer #thank you!!!#🖤🖤

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nuptia · 3 years

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AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF THEMES AND MOTIFS THAT RELATE TO WREN’S NARRATIVE.

NOTE: these themes relate to the first arc of her story, which is where the majority of wren’s threads will be placed in order to keep a forward momentum on this blog ( and to make her narrative more manageable to me ). her themes are likely to develop as she does, but i want to spend a little time talking about certain things that will reoccur on this blog.

HUNGER / GREED / TO DEVOUR ( tw for food in this specific section, please skip forward if these topics disturb you ).

LYRICAL THEMES: at seventeen i started to starve myself / i thought that love was a kind of emptiness / and at least then i understood the hunger that i felt / and i didn’t have to call it loneliness. [ hunger by florence + the machine ].

GENSIS: elijah controlled every aspect of wren’s life and this specific aspect of trauma manifests in wren’s relationship with food. he used it as a punishment, he used it as a reward, he used it merely to show he had control --- wren would define her relationship with him as one of constant hunger ( both of her own body, but the way he devoured her, as well : that fact she was literally a void around him waiting to be filled as he ate her whole ).

POST - ELIJAH: she gorges herself for weeks after she’s killed elijah, eager to take back some semblance of control, desperate to fill some sort of empty pit inside of her. she feels constantly sick and heavy over it, but lashes out when maria tries to get her to stop. EVENTUALLY, SHE LEARNS THAT CONTROL IS NOT ABOUT DEVOURING EVERYTHING : it’s about getting the choice of when you devour and how much ( but she won’t ever lose that greedy pit inside of her that demands more, more, more ).

A SIDE - NOTE, DEVOURING GODHOOD: to wren, elijah is and always will be a god. a vengeful one, but she can’t fathom a mortal holding so much power within them. she aches to eat him whole and take whatever godhood he has, to become godly herself --- this is what she imagines full control to feel like, eating god to become a god.

FUTURE MANIFESTATIONS: i am hoping to later explore the concept of fullness and the overflowing cup, and how this relates both to pregnancy, motherhood, and found families.

PREY ANIMALS ( featuring most prominently : gazelles, does, and bunnies ).

LITERARY THEMES: all the world will be your enemy, prince with a thousand enemes, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. but first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed [ watership down by richard adams ].

GAZELLES: agility, alertness, and grace. apt metaphors for wren and her body. it should be noted that wren remains the opposite of clumsiness�� ; she is consciously and constantly aware of her body. every inch of it : she can check for wounds with removing clothes, every part of her known and felt to the deepest degree. if she fumbled or messed up around elijah, she was punished --- she protects herself against this by making sure her body is under her control constantly.

DOES: nature that cannot be subdued and adaptability. does were her mother’s favourite animal ( and as her mother had powers relating to nature, you can imagine why ). does symbolise, for her, elijah’s inability to snuff her out --- he forced her into a world of harsh white lines, apartment complexes, a city that bustles. but she remained unsubdued, growing against his harshness like a tangled thorn.

BUNNIES: fear and creativity. wren is a woman in the run. it’s the most integral part of her story --- she is escaping unjust punishment and can only do so by the act of fleeing ( which requires great creativity just to stay alive, but also it means she is constantly in a state of fear ). she hops between words in a very chaotic way and she’s rarely static. she exists in constant motion, just like a bunny, filled with fear and creative because of it.

FUTURE MANIFESTATIONS: i can’t imagine that wren would ever become a predatory animal, but i would like if she became associated with bird imagery --- it would be quite befitting, given her name, and i think it would represent the claiming of freedom she’s been denied.

A TURNED BACK ( representing an inability to understand your own face and unknowing yourself so deeply that you begin to know yourself all over again ).

LITERARY THEMES: when i imagine myself / i am always leaving / i couldn’t drawn my own face if god asked [ the vault by andres crepas ].

DISASSOCIATION: wren has no idea who she is --- she has been nothing but a belonging for so long that she isn’t sure there’s much left of her ( to draw on earlier themes, she must devour to become something at all, to fill herself up instead of remaining empty ). she plays a little game with herself in bathroom mirrors where she holds up her finger and says ‘this is my finger and it is pretty’ to try to get a better understanding of her body. everything about this is made so much worse by the fact she is unendingly on the run. she is always turned, she is always running, so how could she possibly stop to know her own face?

FUTURE MANIFESTATIONS: i have drawn my own face --- god didn’t have to ask ( i did it all myself ). i want her to associate

NATURE ( what is motherhood? i want to become a tree ).

LITERARY THEMES: not that i want to be a god or a hero / just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone [ notes by czeslaw miloz ].

NATURE AS MOTHERHOOD: wren’s earliest memory is planting tomato seeds with her mother. she remembers her mother’s dirt - touched fingers over her own, her gentle voice telling her the right way to do it. instruction hadn’t felt like punishment then : it had been an act of care to her. her childhood home had been filled with flowers and plants, her mother ensuring that nothing ever died. the house was ever - alive, a paradise of flowers, home to nature itself ( and her mother was the eternal creator of it all ).

DISASSOCIATION OF NATURE: in contrast, elijah is all cities - and - skylines. she hasn’t touched dirt in a long time after she entered her relationship with him. he makes sure she’s clean and shiny, which means she doesn’t get to be around nature anymore. the plants are fake. while on the run, wren is surrounded by dust and grime, motel rooms with dying plants, cars fuming up the world, the unnatural taste of bullets. she thinks of herself in terms of failed motherhood because a mother to her has always been best represented by a tree.

TREEHOOD: god, the tree is the wren symbol. she wants to dig her roots in deep and have something close to a home, something stable and real. it is in direct contrast to her constantly on the run, a girl trapped in motion. she wants to be static. there’s also a lot here to do with transforming and getting to be something else : she might not know who she is, but she knows who trees are, and that means a lot to her.

FUTURE MANIFESTATIONS: idk i personally think that she should get to be a tree if i’m being honest with you. but, also, i want her to relate more to nature and for the majority of her motifs to be nature - themed. i think her disassociation from nature is perhaps the most impactful thing that’s happened to her because of her it represents the failing relationship between her and her mother. i would like to replace her tree motfit with a bird motif: desperation for stability vs utter freedom.

PERSEPHONE AND DEMETER ( the myth that never needed hades ).

THE MYTH: tumblr has very much romanticized persephone/hades which i don’t care about but i like the story more when it concerns the trauma of a mother-daughter relationship. demeter had her child ripped from her and demanded that the gods give her back --- all they could get for her were six months with her child. let’s split this up better into wren’s childhood and adulthood. before elijah, wren was utterly her mother’s. afterwards, she was utterly elijah’s. there was never any room for wren to be herself. she misses her mother in that tender way that you love the seasons and a ripe harvest : the hope of return seems dull and far - away, but wren still longs for it.

FUTURE MANIFESTATIONS: escape hades and return to demeter. she wants to feel her mother’s arms around her again. she wants to become demeter and give her child daisies and laughter and a man who isn’t hell itself.

#[ & ] headcanon.#i will be like. here is things about wren that will crop up in my writing in a little list #and i'll look and billy and post 'this man is a virgin'#the duality....#if anyone reads through this i am madly in love with you actually #anyway pick ur fav theme mine is treehood #sometimes my baby just wants to be a tree. that's all

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imsorryimlate · 3 years

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Specific references in Pomegranate Seeds, sorted by chapter

Title of work: Pomegranate Seeds

A reference to the myth of Persephone and Hades, where Hades is the god of the underworld who kidnaps Persephone – the daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture and harvest – and makes her queen of the underworld. He gives her a pomegranate to eat, and for every seed she swallows she has to spend a month with Hades in the underworld. During the months she is with Hades, she is gone from her mother, and that’s why autumn and winter exist (since Demeter is grieving the loss of her daughter). Spring and summer are the months when she is back with Demeter, and Demeter is once again happy. The myth has lots of interpretations, but my favourite is the one where it is said to be based on the trauma of both daughter and mother as they are separated when the daughter gets married and enters a new household.

Even though Giorno’s mother didn’t treat him well, her death was most likely traumatic to him. He enters the new household of Dio (Hades) and every time they touch each other in a way that isn’t befitting father and son, one could say that Giorno swallows another pomegranate seed, and it binds him to the underworld. In this case, the underworld would both represent the criminal world, but also the trap of their incestuous relationship that he then cannot leave, should he want to.

No specific references in chapters 1 & 2.

Chapter 3:

Demetra – Giorno’s mother doesn’t have a name in canon, so I made one up. Demetra is the Italian version of Demeter, which is the name of the Greek goddess of agriculture and harvest. The goddess is the mother of Persephone, and the title of this fic – Pomegranate Seeds – is a reference to the myth of Hades and Persephone.

The biblical paintings in the church – John the Baptist (martyr) was beheaded, and Judas (traitor) hung himself. The imagery around Eve, the snake and the red apple, well… depending on how you interpret the story in the Bible, this could mean that the scene doesn’t represent a fall from grace, but rather that it was God’s intention to have humanity step into the broader world.

Dio’s books – I mostly just had a look at my own bookshelf, but I purposely included Nabokov, Machiavelli, and Plato. Nabokov, of course, references his infamous novel Lolita. Machiavelli was an Italian politician and philosopher during the Renaissance, and he’s most famous for his book The Prince, where he gave rulers quite… devious advice, not shying away from unethical and corrupt means. Therefore Machiavelli and the derived term Machiavellian often denotes (political) deceit. And Plato, well, in his text The Symposium he speaks of the ancient practice of pederasty in a very positive manner, and claiming that it is the purest form of love.

Aniara – I picked the book because it’s my sister’s favourite. It is a book-length epic science fiction poem that narrates the tragedy of a large passenger spacecraft carrying a cargo of colonists escaping destruction on Earth veering off course, leaving the Solar System and entering into an existential struggle. This is the “space-travel” Giorno later reflects on while in the bath.

No specific references in chapter 4.

Chapter 5:

The next reference to Machiavelli – Giorno thinks about Machiavelli and the question if it is better to be feared or loved, which is something Machiavelli writes about in his book The Prince, where he states that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved, if they cannot be both.

No specific references in chapter 6.

Chapter 7:

Reckless – Giorno notes that Dio wants him “recklessly, passionately”. This is one of the two times the word “reckless” is used in this story; the only other time being in the first chapter when Giorno’s mother dies after her car collides with a reckless truck. Dio’s desire for Giorno is tied together with that accident, as if it’s equally dangerous.

Jewel – “Yes, Giorno would like something like that; to show Dio that he was a prized jewel, cut to fit perfectly in the curve of his palm.” This line directly references the Song of Songs 7:1 “Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand.”

Eden – “How truly unfortunate, that the most tempting fruit should be found in the middle of Eden.” The garden of Eden, in the Bible, is where life is first created by God. It can therefore also symbolise family, where life also is created. So what Dio essentially says here is “what a shame the most fuckable person is found in my family”.

Draconic tendencies – Giorno having “draconic tendencies” is a reference to his earlier thoughts about Abbacchio hoarding Bucciarati like a jealous dragon.

Chapter 8:

Buttercups – Giorno picks a bouquet of buttercups for Dio, and buttercups have traditionally been associated with childhood. It is meant to express that Giorno, no matter how mature he himself is convinced that he is, still has a childish edge to his affection. As a fun aside, the Latin name for buttercups is Ranunculus, which means “little frog”.

Leda and the Swan – the painting Dio has in his study. It is, of course, an erotic yet controversial motif in itself, but there are some references to the Greek myth it is based on. In it, Zeus disguises himself as a swan and copulates with Leda. It is not entirely clear if it is by rape or seduction. Zeus, of course, is known for his sexual escapades, his violent temper and jealousy, but here he disguises himself as a swan, which is an animal that in European culture often has symbolised love and fidelity. This story of a shady person disguising himself as someone loving, to enter a relationship where consent is dubious at best, well… I think the implications are clear. As a fun aside, the name Zeus and the name Dio are directly connected.

Uneasy lies the head – the whole quote is “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”, a saying from Shakespeare’s play Henry IV, Part 2, meaning that someone with great responsibilities won’t be able to rest properly.

The prodigal son – it’s a reference to a parable in the Bible, from Luke 15:11-32. The story goes that a son requests his inheritance early, spends it all irresponsibly, and then returns home to beg his father to let him work for him. His father, however, welcomes him home with open arms and throws a feast, which indicates that he has hopefully waiting for the son to return.

Nakedness – the scene in Giorno’s room, where he lowers his duvet to display his “nakedness”, the word choice here is important. Except for Genesis 42, all biblical occurrences of the common idiom ”to see the nakedness of” or “to uncover the nakedness of” are explicitly sexual, usually referring to incest. The Classical Hebrew word 'erwā is not “nudity” but “nakedness”, in the sense of something that is unseemly or improper to look at or expose; often used to denote forbidden sexual relations.

Chapter 9:

Wine-dark – Dio’s eyes are described as wine-dark, which is a reference to the use of “wine-dark sea” in Homer. It’s an epithet used in the Iliad and the Odyssey, of uncertain meaning. What exactly does it mean that the sea is “wine-dark”? Is it a reference to the stormy sea being unpredictable, like someone who’s drunk on wine? Or does it tell us something about how ancient Greeks perceived colours, where maybe depth and opacity levels were more important than hues?

Ambrosia – Giorno compares the taste of Dio’s seed to ambrosia, which is the food and drink of the gods in Greek mythology.

Lollipop – Giorno is sucking on a lollipop while he’s out shopping. This is a shameless reference to the most culturally recognised image of Nabokov’s Lolita, where Sue Lyon, the actress who portrayed the character Lolita in Stanley Kubrick’s film adaption of the novel, is sucking on a red lollipop while wearing heart-shaped sunglasses. It’s worth noting, however, that the character Lolita doesn’t eat a lollipop in the novel or Kubrick’s film, and the images were only used for promotion. Either way, the lollipop has nonetheless become a symbol for playful, youthful temptation.

No specific references in chapter 10.

Chapter 11:

Dio’s alarming beauty – Giorno reflects on how beautiful Dio is, that he is alarmingly beautiful. This is a reference to a quote from The Secret History by Donna Tartt: “Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”

Chapter 12:

Kisses – there’s a lot of descriptions of kissing in the beginning of this chapter, and it is all a reference to the biblical book Song of Songs. “Honey-sweet kisses that melted his tongue” is a reference to Song of Songs 4:11 “honey and milk are under your tongue”. On a more complicated note… “those kisses, Giorno drank them from his mouth like they were life-giving water” is a reference to Song of Songs 1:2 that should be “I want to drink kisses from his mouth”, however, most translations will read “let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth”. It’s really complicated as to why I and others would translate it differently, but in general it has to do with the manuscript and the Masoretic editors’ vocalisation, which in turn has a lot to do with evaluating Classical Hebrew grammar and poetic conventions… I am going to spare you that lecture, but I still wanted to let you know that you won’t find that wording in most English translations of the Bible.

The garden, Eden, and juvenile sex – this all ties together. The garden of Eden is, in the Bible, where life is created and before “the fall of man”, it is a place of peace and innocence. Now, it might seem strange to refer to innocence in a story like this, but there still is a certain kind of innocence to their relationship, especially on Giorno’s end. They are described as “easy and unafraid, in full view of God”, which again is a reference to the biblical creation story; after “the fall of man”, when Adam and Eve have sinned, they are suddenly afraid of God and tries to hide from him, and for the first time shield their nudity, since they have now lost that innocence. So, Dio and Giorno being unafraid in full view of God is another reference to them being fairly innocent. At least that’s how Giorno conceptualises it.

Satyriasis – a word for excessive sexual desire, and an outdated term for hypersexuality. The word was developed in relation to the satyrs of Greek mythology, who were lustful woodland gods.

Nipple play – Giorno sucking on Dio’s tits, well… quite obvious reference, but if you missed it; it’s a reference to breastfeeding and nourishment.

Sunlight – in Stardust Crusaders, Dio tells Polnareff that he too has pain in his life because he can never see the sunlight, since he is a vampire. In this story, Dio isn’t a vampire, but I still wanted to include this pain. Dio’s love for the sunshine, and the depravation of it in his childhood, is my attempt to reconceptualise it.

Chapter 13:

Ice cream – elder flower sorbet has a tendency to taste like laundry detergent if you’re not careful, so Mista definitely picked the wrong flavour that time.

Know thy enemy – “know thy enemy” is a famous quote from The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

Chapter 14:

Paradise burning – more Eden references, they never truly stop.

Loins – in Classical Hebrew, one specifically emphasises that a child has sprung from someone’s loins to indicate that it is a biological child rather than an adopted one.

Deadly sins – Giorno notes that one of the seven deadly sins, sloth (that is, excessive laziness and indifference), doesn’t come as naturally to him as others would (such as lust or pride).

Know thy self – another reference to the famous quote of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.

Companion – Giorno thinks about how the universe has blessed Dio with a companion that can keep up with him, which is a subtle reference to the creation myth in the Bible. There, God creates the first human, Adam. Adam attempts to find a companion amongst the other creatures, but cannot find an equal until God creates another human – incidentally, God creates another human from Adam (by his rib), which of course parallels with Giorno being created from Dio, since he is his biological child.

Clay – the dream Giorno has of Dio forming him out of clay and breathing life into him is another direct reference to the creation myth in the Bible, where God forms the first human out of clay/soil/dust from the ground and breathes life into his nostrils. Similar creation myths are found in several ancient Near Eastern religions. If you want a little more “fun” fact, the first human is named Adam, a name he gets from the Classical Hebrew word for “man” (as in human – not male), which is adam, and the word for “ground” is adamah, which ties to all together quite nicely.

Nakedness – Dio uncovers Giorno’s nakedness, and just like in chapter 8 it’s a biblical reference. Except for Genesis 42, all biblical occurrences of the common idiom ”to see the nakedness of” or “to uncover the nakedness of” are explicitly sexual, usually referring to incest. The Classical Hebrew word 'erwā is not “nudity” but “nakedness”, in the sense of something that is unseemly or improper to look at or expose; often used to denote forbidden sexual relations.

Chapter 15.

Cuddling – after having breakfast, they cuddle, and their position is described as Giorno resting his head on Dio’s left arm, and Dio draping his other arm over Giorno’s waist. This position is a reference to the biblical book the Song of Songs 2:6 “His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.”

Angel lust – Dio gets hard after Giorno chokes him, which he says is a perfectly natural reaction to being choked. Which it is! “Angel lust” or “death erection” refers to the phenomenon of men executed by hanging having an erection, because of the increased downward blood flow. After observing this, doctors in the 17th century started prescribing choking sex to men with erectile dysfunction, and that’s partly where erotic asphyxiation comes from.

England – the phrase “lie back and think of England”, alternatively “close your eyes and think of England” is an old-timey reference to unwanted sex that one doesn’t enjoy – specifically used for sex within a marriage, which at least back in the day was more of an economic arrangement than a love affair. Disgustingly, it means “just lie back and endure it”.

Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh – this is another reference to the creation story in the Bible. The specific verse is Genesis 2:23, when God has created another human to be a worthy companion of the first one. Adam, the first human, has searched for a companion among the animals but been unsuccessful to find an equal. But when he meets the newly created Eve, the second human, he exclaims “At last! This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (since she was created from his rib). That “at last!” is very sweet – and fits in this story too! Dio has finally found a worthy companion to share his highest highs and deepest lows with.

Chapter 16.

Roses – Giorno buys a bouquet of roses for Dio. This is intended as a contrast to the buttercups he picked for Dio in chapter 8, being that roses are a much more “mature” flower than buttercups, therefore showing that Giorno has matured. Also, the fact that he buys the bouquet of roses while he picked the buttercups indicate a certain loss of simplicity and naturalness in their relationship.

Fin.

#/#//#///#////#/////#just fanfiction stuff pls look away #i tried to make this a private post but tumblr be fucking with me #pomegranate seeds references

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druid-for-hire · 5 years

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UNSWAYED PT. IV

(pt. i) (pt. ii) (pt. iii) (pt. v) (epilogue) (askblog)

this update consists of a bit of the trek back to hadestown and the workers’ revolution that lasts the summer until persephone’s return in the fall, and being granted the chance to leave at last--to leave for real.

thank you so so much to all my friends @supercantaloupe, @unholy-boi (who helped write the Riots sect), @damondaunnodyke, & @s-aint-elmo

persephone has left again and sets to repairing the world up Top after the hurricane, now that she’s helped the lovers.

orpheus and eurydice are... on the exodus from the Beyond. it’s a long road--it’s a long walk. takes a week or two.

kampê slinks into the shadows and hides, bitter, among the smokestacks. she hurts and she fears. hades will come for her, she knows, but she knows this place far better than he--that man barely checks up (hence how her grip on the place has gotten out of control), hasn’t been there for all of the rearrangements and updates in centuries. she knows where to hide. he will not find her in her domain. this is her darkness.

the imagery of the Exodus is very much akin to/inspired by the same Exodus of the movie Prince of Egypt. u kno that one?

looks like this, yeah, but like... obviously without the fish, because the walls aren’t made of ocean in this au, they’re just rock

and orpheus and eurydice leading the pack, shadowed looks of determination on their faces

again: this is where Promises (But Sadder) happens

as eurydice takes orpheus back to the main parts of hadestown, she notices too many things: his legs tremble, his hands shake, he breathes just barely too hard and clears his throat and coughs too much; and as they talk about the small things to fill some of the quiet, orpheus asks “what’d you say?” too often

(it’s hearing damage babey!)

of course, no one is spared from the hardships of hadestown. but she... does not like seeing those scars on orpheus

this long walk is also the time they tell each other everything that happened to them since they last saw each other

reminder: orpheus is still weak & kinda sick! and it’s a long walking journey. and everyone’s tired. sometimes they all sit down and camp for the “night” or something.

the beyond’s not been kind to him; he’s pale as a corpse, with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, looks as dead as he feels

(really, all the other workers from the Beyond don’t look much better)

it’s kind of a spooky sight when they stop for a few hours and he lays down to take a rest. the state he’s in...

and eurydice is a fairly good singer--nowhere near on orpheus’ (former) level, but good, and she probably sings him small tunes here and there just for the two of them, to relax and comfort and what have you

@axolotlbeans: at some point they stop for the “night” and orpheus collapses; eurydice, who’d been singing, gathers him in her arms and says, "Orpheus, you're shivering; is it cold or fear?"

and he interrupts her, burying his face into her neck and softly rasps "Just keep singing" in the smallest, weakest voice

when they arrive. it is... a lot.

the long train of people is... heavily distracting. and they seem to come out of nowhere--a lot of hadestown wasn’t even aware there was a Beyond ‘till orpheus got banished, and then they didn’t know the name or what it was, just that he got banished somewhere. even the foremen turn to see; everyone’s sort of like. uh. what the hell is going on? and work sort of stalls out a little bit

eurydice and orpheus go straight to hades and present their demands to let them go. let them all go. blah blah blah some other stuff it probably sounds fairer than that, i don’t have the brain energy to outline all their demands specifically

by the slightly edited words of my good friend supercanteloupe:

let us go, eurydice demands, and hades just laughs, jailbirds like themselves don’t get their freedom so easily. get back to work, songbird, and don’t let the foreman know you’ve been slacking. and all of the rest of you... you’d better return before you’re made to return.

they go, but they’re not done, not by a long shot.

they don’t go back to work.

orpheus cannot sing, but he is still a poet, and the workers have their voices too

the bristling unrest of Hadestown begins to develop into protests, and the protests turn into riots.

orpheus can craft all the words eurydice needs to say with her spirited and powerful voice, to hit every point to cause uprisings and to stab every point to whittle hades down

hades notices things are beginning to go wrong. machine malfunctions, damaged, outright broken; strikes, sit-ins. rolling blackouts. eurydice and orpheus come back and back, with more and more workers, the ones they led out from the beyond and the ones from the factories and mines, always to demand: let us go.

and hades grows only more calloused and bitter. you failed your test, you don't get second chances. Players who break the rules are banned from play.

and every time they turn back, back to their increased workloads and their stricter overseers and their hope now stretching thin, and their anger growing more

ok back to me writing: but enough pushing, and even the overseers are beginning to turn.

the furies, infamous guardswomen and union busters, are doing their best to do damage control. and they are fierce. they are vicious, nearly (but not quite) as bad as kampê, and there are three of them--but then there are only three of them, and they cannot possibly control every single instance of revolt when the ball gets rolling

eurydice and orpheus are now the leaders of rebellion, and both of them are marked for banishment. they have to run from god-king hades and stay out of the unrelenting sights of the Furies.

(and this also means they can’t work or the foremen still on hades’ side might turn em in. so they catch a break and a nap, finally, jesus christ)

but.

there is trouble (For hades) in the fact that kampê has practically gone missing. no matter how many are sent to the Beyond, now there is no one to stop them from just... making the trip back. sure. it takes a long time. about a week or so of walking, but they just... come back.

hades takes notice. hades visits the Beyond for the first time in so long and tries to find her, to no avail. the Beyond is far changed than when he last saw it and he does not have the time to spend to find her--he cannot step away from his children for more than a few hours, lest something go wrong again. this is just another inconvenience on his long, long list.

@lookoutitsregan: “they're legally allowed to leave after 15 minutes”

orpheus and eurydice will be dealt with by himself, and so they run--avoid him as much as they can, hide under his radar

by the words of unholy-boi: hades will not let go of his empire so easily. the building pressure only makes him clench his fists tighter, bend his back further, push further to his own breaking point (and towards everyone else’s).

he’s more likely to go down screaming that he isn’t, more likely to cling hard and furious to his city, push his workers into the dirt and further lose persephone in the process, the further this goes, the more against him, the more likely he is to furiously, dangerously fight back.

as summer turns late, hadestown doesn’t soften like hades may have had it for persephone in years long since past, hadestown turns from city to warzone

ok back to me again

for the songbirds: there’s the riots and them narrowly escaping hades like all the damn time while he pushes everyone else to their limits

and yet they refuse to be pushed and usurp their foremen as fast as he reinstates things

revolutions usually have unifying symbols of a sort, and the many isolated revolts do eventually coalesce into this all being an outright revolution--a workers’ movement, if you will.

the red carnation. though they don’t have it, they all remember seeing in orpheus’ hand before he was banished--the one solid sliver of the aboveground anyone saw in a long time

@s-aint-elmo: the red carnation becomes their symbol--though they don’t have it, they paint it in hidden alleyways and abandoned factory walls. they have red paper flowers and red cloth tucked into pockets and tool belts

or the red of some banner that waves in the acrid smoke-wind of hadestown’s false air fronts

flowers, painted and made and substituted, are cropping up all over hadestown, and in increasingly more obvious spots. life is blooming in the underground for the first time in so long

OH ALSO, another fun layer of symbolism with the red cloths:

in the staging of actual hadestown, when orpheus sings "and they're gonna bend their branches down and lay their fruit upon the ground; the almond and the apple, the sugar and the maple" the ensemble is on the tables, reaching over eurydice like tree branches in a sort of ^ formation; on "almond" and "apple," the first two layers pull out and dangle white cloth, but on "sugar from the maple," the dude at the top dangles a red one and drops it into eurydice's hands

so there’s that!

also being the bounty of spring above...... rejecting the underworld. some shit like that

in a musical there’d definitely be a sort of revolution song

like uhhh... Why We Build the Wall II. it’s Different this time. it’s not about the circular logic of the wall, it’s about rebelling against the order hades has set for them

There’s so many lines that can be drawn from elsewhere in the musical to be inserted into this

Why do we build the wall, my brothers, my sisters?

He said the wall would bring us peace, the wall would keep out the enemy.

mister hades set us free to work ourselves into the ground. a lot of souls have gotta die to make the underworld go round.

why are we digging out own graves for a living, if we're free tell me why we can't even stand upright?

some sort of rebellion/callback against “who are you to think that you can hold your head up higher than your fellow man?”

i’m gonna count to three, and then i’ll raise my head, singin’, one, two--!

(except they probably finish the count in this one)

also, because i am weak for really great chords being belted out by a big chorus and hearing every voice part slot together, because this is a revolution song with lots of people i think it should have that

everybody 👏knows 👏the 👏walls 👏have 👏ears 👏

thank u supercanteloupe & s-aint-elmo for ur additions on this

the fates’ voices still carry on the wind, hadestown’s false air fronts of stale and acrid air, but orpheus and eurydice have since learned to turn their backs to it

ALSO? Flags

with the revolution coming to span A Really Big Chunk of hadestown, most likely more than half, there’d probably be people putting up flags and banners

i’m just like, inspired by the imagery of the flag raisings in wwii and post-9/11, and also i’m thinking of les mis/french revolution in general not gonna lie

sure, the Furies are union-busters and come after any sign of revolution, but every revolution is a fight against something. there’s always blood spilled, what different is this one?

they can’t be everywhere at once and they’re not like the Fates--they get tired, they’re not omnipresent and omniscient, the people are not powerless

the flag is supposed to attract attention, the point is to be loud

and by god, they are screaming

this is what a steel mill looks like at night. hadestown was sort of already in a hazy blaze, but combo this with a revolution in its midst, with fighting and fire, and... well, it’s a mess

and through all the flames are the carnations blooming, painted and carved on walls and smokestacks and pathways

(it’s very poetic)

(tumblr will kill this post if i link to the source directly, so. photo taken by DragonWolfACe @ deviantart)

hermes still ferries on the train, but the schedule is all out of whack thanks to the strikes and riots turning the systems upside down. he witnesses plenty of the mess that hadestown has fallen into, and the fight the songbirds are fighting

he relays as much news as he can to persephone

(thanks @damondaunnodyke for helping write this bit w/ seph)

persephone... worries

she already snuck underground to help them once and a hurricane ravaged the Top for her absence. the songbirds have escaped, and now have to fight this fight for themselves--she can’t go back down to help them, because she has to bring the summertime to the Top, and she refuses to be the cause of another storm

so she’s stuck aboveground.

and she’s uhh. stressing. drinking. worrying.

everyone can tell there’s something off, but she doesn’t want to dwell on it, insisting that everyone else should just focus on the good times. let me tell ya something that my mama said to me...

she tries to not stress--there’s nothing she can do right now, why worry, you know? unless she wants to get more gray hairs than she’s already got

but during one of those celebrations she almost says “let the poet bless this round!” before catching herself, remembering that she’s... not there

a lot of people give her a glance; why’d she stop?

but she picks herself back up again, only a moment's falter, and just toasts to life and summer

the end of summer.

the revolution rages on. it’s not calmed down--the very opposite, in fact, more ferocious than ever

(and thanks unholy-boi for basically writing this bit for me HBGFHG)

persephone knows something is wrong when the train isn’t early--isn’t on time, but in fact late to pick her up. the summer has stretched on longer than it should, and in some ways, that is just as dangerous as the winter going on for too long

hades has been getting ready to bring her home. it takes browbeating and strongarming to get the trains running, far too late for his liking.

at last the train comes for her, and when it is hermes who offers his hand to bring her onboard, she knows that things in the underworld are bad--an inferno, dangerous if not dire, and she wonders if the songbirds are still alive, or if they’ve gone and the revolution still rages without them

hades aches for his wife, but he dares not step away from hadestown for a moment. he’s become obsessed and absolutely determined to quell, to crush this rebellion

hades is breaking, but refuses to bend, hades has refrains where he refuses to sing but slips into poetry and catches himself halfway through, hades is breaking, he puts in people he believes he can trust and they turn on him out of desperation, hades is running out of places to desperately hold and he is breaking. hadestown is oblivion. hades is wearing a crown that mangled his head.

persephone steps off of the train, and is taken aback by the state hadestown is in

the people feel her breeze in, and it is some relief, but the can’t tell how this will change things. if it’ll make things worse, if it’ll make it better

people ask for her aid; but she’s too busy looking around, trying to find the songbirds (after getting confirmation that they’re still alive) who are still hiding

and she finds them. she sees orpheus and eurydice (orpheus, who hades so clearly saw himself in, and eurydice, who she sees herself in) still fighting, still in love.

she sees hades’ mercilessness to the boy he sees himself in. she sees eurydice’s unending determination (in contrast to her own grown apathy)

and she’s reminded of times before. song or no song.

she decides that this cannot keep going, and hades will keep going farther and farther until he fucking self-destructs at the end of his fall and she wants to catch him before that happens

hades raises his fist against his people, persephone takes his hand and she starts singing. the old song. holding his hand. protecting the people.

la, la la la, la la la

and he realizes what he’s doing, as music swells, as the rest of hadestown, quietly, starts to join her in singing. as her warmth, her natural warmth, surrounds him, and he smells flowers and feels pollen and sunlight, and he--

well, the ice around his heart starts to crack, and the iron starts to melt

she catches him before he breaks

His Kiss, the Riot is... different

more emotionally charged, i think, because of the fight he’s been fighting for so long, so fiercely and ardently. he’s much more emotionally compromised, stressed and strung out and now everything’s been turned on his head

he can’t just let them go, but he can’t make them stay. he definitely cannot make them stay. and if the songbirds leave, they will take almost all of hadestown with them

it’s not like... Hellfire Notre Dame levels of dramatic. it’s still quiet, dark, and brooding, but hades is. more of a mess, really

but he comes to his conclusion all the same

that’s about all i got on this. i just wanted to make a note. i thought it was important

the task is given: they can walk, but eurydice must walk in front, and orpheus must follow behind. she must not turn behind to see if orpheus is following--if he has not collapsed, and she will not be able to hear if he has. if she turns, she may return above, but her lover will return to hadestown.

it’s given to eurydice instead because while she might be harder to instill doubt in, she’s as much susceptible to loneliness as any other. she may have been alone for so long, but she is desperate to not be alone again. and orpheus is still weak--still sick, and she fears he might give out before they reach the top, as much as he assures her he’ll be fine

and if they fail, well, they keep the poet, who was damned to hell anyway--a sentence is stronger than a contract

(Also, this is now Wait For Me III (the first being Orpheus on the way to Hadestown; second being Eurydice trying to find Orpheus; this is the third) and it is HUGE and GRAND, as the climax of the revolution. just as big, if not bigger than the bway version’s

(tho as per usual it’s tinged with sadness because of the circumstances, and the fact that, if this were staged, orpheus would be the only one not singing)

and then... doubt comes in

eurydice walks the path to the surface

hermes' warnings echo in her head, all the same he gave to orpheus in the normal timeline

it's cold

the fates badger her and bleed into her thoughts, systematically unwinding her confidence as she marches on through the dark

one foot after the other, she tells herself

after so long of turning her back to the wind, to the fates, she has learned to keep her head on straight

orpheus is not sturdy, especially now, but he is not so weak to fail on a walk like this--long, but simple, and upon even ground

he is there, she tells herself. he is strong enough to keep up.

his heart is strong enough. it has to be.

hades lied to everyone in the underground--hades lied to make hadestown, she thinks

hades...

just this once--

she chooses to believe he didn't lie to her.

(pt. i) (pt. ii) (pt. iii) (pt. v) (epilogue) (askblog)

bonus:

#unswayed au #hadestown #hadestown au #my art #my work #i'm thinking about naming each parts #like breaking up this story into sections #the first with orpheus' failing is Banishment #the second is Search / Survival a la eurydice looking for him and orpheus trying to last #the third is Exodus #the fourth is Riots #the fifth is......... youll find out later :)

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dying-suffering-french-stalkers · 5 years

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Katabasis Patterns in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Or, in which I make use of my official Classics minor (and my unofficial film nerd minor) while ignoring my French major altogether.

Howdy, everyone, and welcome to this week’s episode of Extremely On My Bullshit! Today we’re going to talk at length about how the trip to Davy Jones’ Locker in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End borrows elements from various classical narratives containing a katabasis, or a trip to the Underworld. This will be a slightly Tumblr-ified version of an actual paper I wrote for my Classical Antiquity On Screen final.

Shoutout to this post by @charlesdances, which allowed me to infodump about Hades/Persephone parallels in Barbossa and Elizabeth’s relationship across the trilogy, and to @aye-tortuga for requesting this longer post, which I teased at the end of the aforementioned meta.

Right then, let’s get started! Under a cut to spare your dashes from long post made longer still by screencaps and works cited (yep, it’s that kind of meta). For the purposes of this meta, only the first three Pirates films will be considered canon as the later sequels contradicted elements of the established lore.

I touched on this in the first paragraph, but I’ll begin by defining two words which will appear throughout this meta: katabasis and anabasis. Katabasis and anabasis are Ancient Greek terms which refer to “that narrative . . . that portrays the hero’s descent into, and ascent from, the underworld—the journey to hell” (Holtsmark 25). (If you want to get etymological about it, kata is down, ana is up, and baino comes from the verb meaning “to go [on foot].”)

This katabasis narrative takes place in the first act of At World’s End. If you’ll recall, Dead Man’s Chest ended with Elizabeth chaining Jack to the Black Pearl’s mast: she knew the Kraken was only interested in Jack, so she sacrificed him to give herself and the others a chance to escape. However, at the very end of the film, Elizabeth and the crew of the Pearl pledge to retrieve Jack from his resting place in Davy Jones’ Locker (the Underworld), and Tia Dalma offers both herself and Barbossa as guides to those “weird and haunted shores.”

So, after the cinematic fucking masterpiece that is the opening “Hoist the Colours” sequence (I also wrote a paper on that lol), we find ourselves in Singapore, where Elizabeth, Barbossa, and co. meet with the pirate lord Sao Feng in hopes of obtaining a map to the Locker. The Singapore segment opens with Elizabeth piloting a lone craft along a murky river, evoking images of Charon with his ferryman’s pole:

As she poles the boat along, she sings a pirate tune with decidedly death-centric lyrics, tuning us in to the symbolism and themes at play: “Some men have died and some are alive / Others sail on the sea / With the keys to the cage and the Devil to pay / We lay to Fiddler’s Green.* / The bell has been raised from its watery grave / Hear its sepulchral tone . . .” (*A form of afterlife from maritime folklore)

At the end of this scene, we see something odd: Tia Dalma dressed as a blind organ grinder.

Plot-wise, this serves to divert the colonial soldiers’ attention from the pirates’ activity, but metaphorically, here she represents the blind seer Tiresias, whom Odysseus encounters when he first enters the realm of Hades (Odyssey 11.187-149).

When the pirates meet Sao Feng, the imagery starts to mix a little. The filmmakers present Sao Feng in a somewhat Hades-esque (Hadean?) manner (steam, flames, and warm tones, with a skylight to imply subterranean depths):

However, while he is a powerful figure, he does not keep the Underworld itself (that duty falls to Jones); he merely keeps the knowledge of its entrance. Barbossa attempts to gain this knowledge by presenting Sao Feng with a silver coin: a reminder of his duty as Pirate Lord as well as another Charon parallel. Barbossa’s tactic does not work, but like in the previous scene, the imagery prepares viewers for the descent to come.

After getting Sao Feng’s navigational charts another way, the pirates’ journey to the underworld continues in earnest. When Will expresses doubt about their path, Barbossa nearly quotes the Aeneid outright: “Trust me, young Master Turner: it’s not gettin’ to the Land of the Dead that’s the problem; it’s gettin’ back.” This echoes the Cumaean Sibyl’s famous words to Aeneas: “Easy is the descent to [the Underworld]: night and day the door of gloomy Dis stands open; but to recall one’s steps and pass out to the upper air, this is the task, this the toil!” (Aeneid 6.126-129, tr. H.R. Fairclough). Aeneas, guided by the Sibyl, passes through the mouth of a cave as part of his descent (“A deep cave there was, yawning wide and vast, of jagged rock” (Aeneid 6.237-238, cf. 6.262-263, tr. Fairclough)); likewise the pirates, guided by Barbossa and the charts, pass through a cave as they travel into stranger climes:

(Buuuut to be fair, this one is possibly just incidental or else more of a reference to Gustave Doré’s art for Rime of the Ancient Mariner rather than a reference to any specific classical text. Doré’s artwork is used elsewhere in PotC, so it’s prolly just aesthetic. Also caves are cool and the ultimate symbolic doorway.)

Next they come to a distant, shadowy realm with a misty sky and a sea tranquil enough to reflect starlight:

Again, this could also be incidental (and/or just a really cool homage to the sailing-to-the-moon scene in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)), but it does have a classical counterpart: “The ship took us to the deep, outermost Ocean / And the land of the Cimmerians, a people / Shrouded in mist. The sun never shines there [...] Nor bathes them in the glow of its last golden rays; / Their wretched sky is always racked with night’s gloom” (Odyssey 11.14-19).

Both of these qualities—the cave and the darkness—fit Holtsmark’s observations on katabatic patterns: “The entryway to the other world is often conceived as lying in caves or grottoes or other openings in the earth’s crust into the nether regions, such as chasms or clefts. . . . The lower world is generally dank and dark, and the journey usually takes place at dusk or during the night” (Holtsmark 25).

At last, the pirates’ ship goes over the edge of an enormous waterfall and the screen fades to black. Voices from the original Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride echo over the dark screen, ending with the ominous phrase “Dead men tell no tales.” However, we shall soon see this proved very wrong, for the pirates encounter several souls with tales to tell. As for these nameless voices, they may represent multitudes of “bloodless shades” (Metamorphoses 10.42) left to languish in other parts of the Locker/Underworld.

At this point, the narrative cuts from the pirate band to Jack in Davy Jones’ Locker. Jack warrants special punishment from Jones for disobeying the rules of a bargain they’d once struck (*yells forever about the good parts of The Price of Freedom and the crimes wrought by the DMTNT retcons*). Jack’s own special hell, recalling the punishments of Tantalus and Sisyphus (Odyssey 11.611-629), does include his beloved Black Pearl (explicitly stated, by Jack himself, to be a symbol of personal freedom), but now it rests completely beached upon an endless, windless salt flat. Jack is utterly alone in this wasteland, save for a crew of his own imaginary doppelgängers.

(I’m gonna be real with y’all: I don’t care for this scene at all and it brings the narrative to a screeching halt, so let’s just take a moment to angstily reflect on how profoundly this affects Jack-the-character’s psyche/mental state for the rest of the film and move on to better things. God bless RPers and fic writers who deal with this scene and its effects in a deliciously Watsonian way.)

Tia Dalma/Calypso’s crabs eventually come to bear both captain and ship back to the sea. This could be seen as classical-type divine aid/favoritism (a semi-literal deus ex machina) or as awkward, oh-no-what-do-we-do-now screenwriting, take your pick. The crabs take Jack and the Pearl directly to the rest of the pirates, who have washed up on the Locker’s desolate shore. In a twist on the classical formula, Jack initially thinks his rescuers the dead ones as they recount their past experiences. Additionally, Jack represents a sort of Eurydice figure as the dead-in-need-of-rescuing, while his Orpheus, Elizabeth, is ironically the one who “killed” him in the first place. All the pirates (Jack included) finally set sail in the freed Black Pearl and attempt to escape this Underworld: the anabasis has begun.

On their way out, when the sky grows dark, the crew encounter scores upon scores of shades floating aimlessly upon the sea:

This parallels Odysseus’ experience (“Then out of Erebus / The souls of the dead gathered / . . . They drifted up to the pit from all sides / With an eerie cry, and pale fear seized me” (Odyssey 11.34-35, 40-41)) as well as that of Aeneas (“Hither rushed all the [ghostly] throng, streaming to the banks . . . They stood, pleading to be the first ferried across, and stretched out hands in yearning for the farther shore” (Aeneid 6.305, 313-314)). Tia Dalma reveals that long ago, Calypso had charged Davy Jones “to ferry those who died at sea to the Other Side,” but he has since abandoned his duty, hence his current eldritch appearance. This explicitly posits Jones as a failed psychopomp who has now left these souls stranded like the unburied men of the Odyssey and Aeneid.

The crew leave these shades in peace until Elizabeth spots a familiar face: her father.

At this point I must ask you to rewatch this scene so you can fully appreciate the parallels without me including a lengthy transcript in this already long post.

This scene comes directly from classical literature, as both Odysseus and Aeneas encountered dead parents in the Underworld. Odysseus saw his mother: “. . . At once / She knew me, and her words reached me on wings: / ‘My child, how did you come to the undergloom / While you are still alive? It is hard for the living / To reach these shores. There are many rivers to cross, / Great bodies of water, nightmarish streams, / And Ocean itself, which cannot be crossed on foot / But only in a well-built ship’” (Odyssey 11.151-158). Like Elizabeth, Odysseus had no prior knowledge of his mother’s passing (11.170). His mother warned him of the dangerous situation which had sprung up during his absence, just as Weatherby Swann warned the pirates of the dangers of Davy Jones’ Heart. Aeneas likewise encountered the spirit of his father, Anchises: “‘Have you come at last[?] . . . Over what lands, what wide seas have you journeyed to my welcome! What dangers have beset you, my son!’” (Aeneid 6.687-693). Anchises, too, offers some advice for the future, for he “tells of the wars that the hero next must wage . . . [and] how to face or flee each peril” (6.890-892). Having Elizabeth be the one to encounter a dead parent in the Underworld confirms her as the series’ protagonist, in case that wasn’t patently obvious from the rest of the trilogy (and the failure of Pirates 4 and 5). Weatherby Swann’s warning also serves to remind the audience of the stakes.

Finally, the pirates make their way out of the Locker. While the remainder of their journey takes more inspiration from Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Western European folklore than classical literature, the latter’s influence on the film remains quite clear. When the pirates return to the land of the living, it is daybreak:

(*Lawrence of Arabia theme, but on a cello*)

So, too, does Odysseus emerge from the Underworld into a new dawn: “Our ship left the River Ocean / And came to the swell of the open sea / . . . Where Dawn has her dancing grounds / And the Sun his risings” (Odyssey 12.1-5). The pirates thus complete their katabasis/anabasis, and with rather more luck than Orpheus.

In review: The pirates begin their katabasis in Singapore, which boasts a plethora of Underworld symbolism, including a death-centric song and images of Charon, Tiresias, and Hades. They cross various waters in their descent, mirroring locations from Homer and Vergil, and Barbossa quotes the Cumaean Sibyl. Elizabeth and the pirates retrieve Jack from the Locker’s punishments in a twist on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Like Odysseus and Aeneas, Elizabeth sees her dead parent in the Underworld, who warns her of things to come. In the end, the pirates emerge from the Underworld into the light of dawn, signalling their return to life. By borrowing from Homer, Vergil, and Ovid, At World’s End presents an Underworld narrative which is familiar in structure and yet easily incorporated into a new mythology: “Same story, different versions.”

(Please message me if you’d like to quote/reference this post in a paper and I can give you my name + details on the official version! Plagiarism is shitty and unnecessary!)

WORKS CITED

Crispin, A.C. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom. Disney Editions, 2011.

Fairclough, H.R., translator. The Aeneid. 1916. By Vergil. Theoi Project, www.theoi.com/Text/VirgilAeneid6.html. Accessed 4 May 2019.

Holtsmark, Erling B. “The Katabasis Theme in Modern Cinema.” Classical Myth & Culture in Modern Cinema, edited by Martin M. Winkler, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 23-50.

Homer. The Odyssey. The Essential Homer, translated and edited by Stanley Lombardo, Hackett Publishing Company, 2000, pp. 241-482.

Ovid. Metamorphoses. Translated by Stanley Lombardo, Hackett Publishing Company, 2010.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Directed by Gore Verbinski, performances by Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Bill Nighy, Chow Yun-Fat, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Hollander, Jack Davenport, and Jonathan Pryce, Walt Disney Pictures, 2007.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Directed by Gore Verbinski, performances by Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander, Jack Davenport, and Jonathan Pryce, Walt Disney Pictures, 2005.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Directed by Gore Verbinski, performances by Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Jack Davenport, and Jonathan Pryce, Walt Disney Pictures, 2003.

#dear god i hope this posts #pirates of the caribbean #potc #tagamemnon #meta #classics #long post #loooooooong post #katabasis #my meta #if you steal this i will physically manifest in your home and hand you the black spot

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questionablygourmet · 5 years

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Rewatch meta: mirrors, connections, and intrusion in Aperitif & Amuse-Bouche

This is the first of what is intended to be a series of analytical posts based on what sticks out to me as I do a close rewatch of the show, roughly 1-3 episodes at a time. This first one will mainly focus on the introduction of major motifs and thematic elements in the show; future posts may follow in that vein or just whatever else about the episodes gets me thinking.

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One of the aspects of the show that makes it such a vibrant experience, and lends vibrancy in turn to analysis and transformative works in fandom is its rich use of motif in how it communicates what is important and what is going on with the characters and in the narrative. The first two episodes are set up: they present to us the main characters along with the essentials of who they are, and they’re the opening sally of (some of) major themes and motifs.

Mirrors

Okay, the first thing I’m going to talk about here is not actually the aspect that got it included in this section, but I must: right before our very first look at Hannibal Lecter, we pan up his table and see fruit on a platter, mirrored in the polished surface of the wood. The fruit was the first thing that caught my eye, because of course it did, pomegranates being a pervasive motif in the fandom, and it’s an interesting layout: there are strong mythological associations for pomegranate (Hades & Persephone, etc) and figs (Dionysus, etc). Strawberries, somewhat less so; they are often associated with love, fertility, and/or new life, but in a less obvious-in-modern-pop-culture fashion.

So. An aesthetically beautiful array of fruit as a perfect symbolic introduction to the character of Hannibal! ... and then its mirror image in the shine of the table. Mirrors/the concept of mirroring will become a huge Thing specifically between Hannibal and Will over the course of the series. We also get “the mirrors in your mind can reflect the best of yourself, rather than the worst of someone else,” which honestly is a line that fascinates me in context of how, in seasons 2-3, the idea of Will and Hannibal blurring together, being mirror images to each other/two sides to a coin gets played with and explored.

The irony here is that Hannibal really does want Will to be his authentic self - yet by the end of the series, whatever it may or may not have been Before (”Before you, and after you”), Will’s authentic self is in many ways a sort of mirror to Hannibal. An answer to the question of Hannibal, as much as Hannibal is an answer to the question of Will.

Connection

So the really obvious place this comes out in a big way is with the killer du jour for episode 2 - Stammets’s whole schtick is that he’s obsessed with creating gardens of physical connections between people in the form of his creepy (and GROSS, honestly this is the grossest episode in the show for me) mushroom graves.

But really, this is also ultimately one of the deepest-running themes of the show. It’s central to our Murder Husbands, both of them profoundly isolated from the rest of humanity until they find each other. It’s front-and-center with Franklyn and Tobias, both wanting to reach out to Hannibal (and Franklyn also to Tobias), and him having none of it. And it’s necessarily fundamental to all the other interpersonal relationships, in the explicit variation of how mutual a given connection between characters is (and often, the contrast in how each of them perceives that connection - “Could I ever have understood you?” “No.”).

And it’s more subtly emphasized in these two episodes as we’re being introduced to and developing an understanding of how Will works as an investigator.

“You make jumps you can’t explain.” “The *evidence* explains.”

“Associations come quickly.”

I roll my eyes every single time Hannibal says “pure empathy” in the show because while, yes, Will has plenty of empathy, as he protests to Jack in the very first scene, the point is he has an active imagination, and applies it to the evidence. Will is so good at what he does because he makes connections between general knowledge he has and details of the crime scenes that seem strange or even nonsensical to others. Antler velvet in the wounds? Well, what do I know about antler velvet? And then that knowledge he has about it promoting healing probably later supports his assertion that the killer experiences some form of love for his victims.

(It didn’t seem to fit in well in the earlier section, but the mirror motif also comes into play with the Shrike case in that the first Copycat murder is a distorted reflection of what the Shrike does, for the purposes of making the essential elements of the Shrike murders stand out more starkly to Will.)

In the Stammets case, his mental reconstruction at the crime scene itself is literally just a review of what they’ve already been able to conclude from the physical evidence, plus the inference that it’s not important to the killer that his victims be aware that they were dying, which is a fairly obvious one to make given the lack of restraints. Then, when they’re discussing it in the lab and cause of death has been determined, he’s able to do more with the information - he’s able to determine the how of the victims’ docile interment and from then it’s a quick series of fairly obvious jumps to who the killer must be.

Finally, the debut of the Ravenstag is the result of the sudden, vivid connection Will’s mind has made from the imagery of the Copycat scene - crows and a stag’s head, a murder and a message. The Ravenstag will go on to embody the spectre of death, an omen, but also in some ways a guardian.

Intrusion

Hoo boy is this show ever about that, and these episodes certainly do get off to a running start on this theme.

First of all, just about everyone and everything intruding on Will. There’s Jack in his classroom, there’s Hannibal in Jack’s office and then Will’s motel room, there’s Beverly in Elise Nichols’s room and then again (slightly less unwelcome) at the range, there’s Freddie Being Freddie, and then there’s his hallucinations.

We explicitly discuss the intrusive nature in which Will experiences his work:

“Fear is the price of imagination.”

“No forts in the bone arena of your skull for the things you love.”

And then we start to see the basis for Will’s trust in Hannibal start to form has Hannibal backs off in episode 2. He lets Will roam about the mezzanine of his office (literally circling Hannibal, and part of me wanted to talk about lions because of that and the line with Franklyn, but that felt like stretching a bit too much) while he stays below, gives answers to the questions Will lobs back at him, becomes someone who will push just enough to show concern and interest, but will gracefully retreat into safer waters at the right moment rather than press for ever more.

It’s beautiful and infuriating to me that this is both the truth and the smokescreen for actions that make it also a farce - Will and Hannibal’s relationship is characterized both by a strong, genuine interpersonal courtesy and a staggering degree of intrusion (mostly by Hannibal, though Will has his moments), and these things can and do frequently exist fully side by side.

The other notable single target of intrusion in these episodes is, of course, Hannibal.

Something I didn’t really consciously grok on my first couple of watchings of Jack and Hannibal’s first scene together is that while Jack is trying to flatter Hannibal rather than intimidate/command (as he was doing with Will), Jack is still being very nearly as pushy and invasive as he was in his first scene with Will: shows up unannounced, assumes Hannibal will make time for him without stating his purpose in being there (I love how visibly taken-aback he is when Hannibal tells him to wait in the damn waiting room), then wanders around Hannibal’s office and messes with his drawings while casually talking about Hannibal’s personal history before he ever gets around to The Point. Yes, Hannibal’s eventually pleased as punch with the results of that visit, but Jack’s behavior is what it is.

Then there’s Freddie (oh, Freddie), who will continue to be a wildly intrusive presence in his life over the next few years in various ways. And then there’s Will, himself, pushing back when Hannibal asks questions in their office sessions - and who will ultimately be The One True Intrusion, the destabilizing element that will cause Hannibal to tear his life as he knows it to the ground.

There are other ways this theme can be discussed in the context of these two episodes, but I’ve hit the main points I meant to and this has gotten lengthy enough already!

(Below the cut, for your potential amusement, a smattering of my notes from rewatching that didn’t necessarily make it into this.)

JACK DON'T TOUCH PEOPLE'S GLASSES

I will never get over the irony of "You have to convince yourself that the lion is not in the room. When it is I assure you, you will know."

pURe EMpatHY

ahh yes, the Teleporting Cannibal Episode

"I'd rather not take it from you" - have to wonder how much Freddie remembered that statement later, as she was starting to wonder if Hannibal might be killing with Will

And here's our first mention of God enjoying killing.

#hannibal #aperitif #amuse bouche #season 1 #meta #my meta #rewatch meta series #hannibal lecter #will graham #jack crawford

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summercampcrush · 4 years

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I've done some thinking and I know why we always come back to the same old tropes. I know why the same stories resonate, well... beyond the reasons we've always had, throughout all our other lifetimes. The sharp edge of my insight has been used to slice into and inspect many, many bodies and minds, yet never have I purposely turned that skilled blade and deft hand on you. You, my favorite body. Lay still and let me return all your former favors, let me slide into the meat of you, read the secrets in your entrails. I'd be concerned the visceral imagery would scare you off, but we both know you too well for that. Your long snout, your sharp teeth sell you out. So now, your little seeress sees you. You big, bad, wolf. Though I don't have the claws or the muscle, I know your taste as well as you know mine. And I know that you fantasize about being monstrous because you've always gotten off on the hope that someone would, instead of feeling fear or revulsion, some day someone beautiful would grab the devil in you and kiss him deeply. One that wouldn't expect you to turn into a prince, but would love you as Persephone loves Hades. The way the sun loves the moon. But now that I see all your lovely bones and the delicate ways they are arranged, I can promise that there's no need to hide your nature. I only wanted to lay you bare to show you all the gentle ways I can kiss your insides. I won't leave any more scars, I promise. I'm responsible for enough of them as it is. When I was younger, my cuts were not as nimble, my knife was dull, I didn't know my craft, I wasn't careful. I bled too much and caused too much bleeding. I'm still learning how to strip meat from the bone without spilling a drop.

#stream of conscious writing #writing to heal #writing is therapy #creative writing #writing #oc tag #twin flame #letters ill never send #letters ill never send my twin flame

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homesoutofhuman · 5 years

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Imagine being loved by me- Donaka Mark/Reader

Fanfic trope challenge- 42. The Big Damn Kiss + 84. Married to the Job (Donaka Mark x Reader) requested by @continental-baby - thank you!

Warnings: tiny bit of smut (not as much as normal!), darkish imagery-can I just remind you I’m not saying this is a healthy relationship.

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You don't know how he found you, it was more like a drive-by kidnapping than a romantic meet-cute, except for the fact that he saved you, except that you wanted to be taken.

You were lost and like a cornered animal, a girl had decided to try and take the last thing worth any value to you in the world. In fighting for it, Donaka saw something in you, and offered to train you, give you a place to stay. Promised you a role, promised you meaning. Somehow he knew exactly what to say to make you follow him.

You climbed into that dark car of his with no regrets.

He tried at first, to recapture whatever he’d seen of your potential to fight, but without motivation you had no natural aggression, and feared he would dump you back where he found you. Instead he let you stay, as a kind of unofficial housekeeper, or at least that’s the role you took upon for yourself- cleaning the gloomy, dusty rooms, opening windows in an attempt to bring the light in. Walking with your head down you catch of glimpse of Donaka sitting, his handsome face lit up by the flickering screens. He senses you watching him, closes and locks the door.

Trying to get to know the enigmatic man you question him, about his life, about friends, if he has any lovers. He tells you tersely with a hint of amusement he is married to his job, and you mull over the phrase all night long.

Married to his job, what does he mean by that? That no person can inspire the passion and dedication that his work can? Frustrated, you feel he has put up a wall right where you wish to go and you’re not sure how to get around - not yet at least.

The restlessness increases. The flush of new spring outside, the hormones in your body, something about being constantly caught in a dance with your new found housemate drives you crazy. Donaka dodges and deflects, always on the edge of being close but never quite there. Something deeply buried inside you is howling for him, you long to touch his cruel and impassive face. You’re curious about the body under his starched, supernaturally clean clothes. You never even hear him take a shower or a shit, you start to doubt if the man is even human.

Your fascination broods itself into obsession, and with no other outlet you make your decision. Seeing the light on inside his study you go, like a moth to a flame, walk in despite his protests, sink to your knees at his feet. When you lean in to kiss him you see no questions in his eyes, no surprise, only a slight curiosity to see what you will do next. The first touch of his mouth on yours is gentle, almost chaste as he lets you peck his closed lips, refusing to give up entry quite so simply.

You kiss down his neck, caressing his pale skin with your red mouth and Donaka makes a sound in his throat, crossed between a grunt and growl. He grabs your wrists and holds them tight at your sides. You already know his strength, its impossible to break free. Making the best with what you have you manage to get a couple of his shirt buttons open with your teeth and, nosing the material out of the way, lick his chest, sneaking a sultry look up through your lashes, suggestive and coy.

Rising on your knees to kiss him again, this time is less gentle as Donaka kisses you back with a passion that makes you dizzy. His kiss is confident, skilled, he is toying with you, the way he takes control of your mouth. It feels as if there’s a thread attached to your clit and every touch of his tongue against yours tugs upon it, making you whine into his mouth with shameful want. He nods for you to move onto his lap, finally lets go your wrists so he can knead your breasts in his hands, and if his kisses were a tug, this is a pull as strong as the tide.

Donaka’s eyes turn dark and focused, like a man who spies victory is close but wants his opponent to fight their best, to make the winning all the sweeter. He caresses your cheek with the back of his hand and you sink off his lap again, dip your head, pressing your flushed face to his rapidly stiffening cock. His fingers twine into your hair and press into your skull, as if contemplating your fragility.

“You want to stay here don’t you? You like it here with me, you like the darkness.”

You hear what he doesn’t say: Are you going to leave me?

He can’t get enough at you at first. Where before you would search for him around the house in aimless circles, now he chases you. He’s behind every door when you open it, leaning nonchalantly on kitchen cabinets when you come down to make breakfast, stealing kisses from you, tugging you and pressing you against every available surface. Your skin is littered with his marks. You give up wearing underwear to his delight. You bring him fresh flowers for his room and he doesn't let you up for air all night. When you emerge next morning his thumb prints are on your skin, your eyes shining with infinite satisfaction.

But nothing lasts forever, and as strong as his passion for you arrives it starts to ebb, you find him at his screens again, you hear him on the phone speaking a language you don’t understand. He goes back to training rather than coming to bed.

As a test you spend the whole day inside your own room. Like a spoilt child you miss every meal, laying on your bed and feeding yourself with tears and self-pity and still he never comes, never notices your absence. At midnight you break and move to the kitchen, swing open the fridge door and sit in front of it, determined to stuff yourself with food in your self-destructive spite. You end up with a handful of seeds in your hand from all the fruit you gorge on.

Donaka finds you cross legged there and picks you up, takes you back to his bed, kisses your swollen face, your puffy eyes, cradles you in his arms and for the first time since you met, he smiles at you, kisses you deeply, in a way that feels more honest than before.

Donaka’s sigh of defeat shouldn’t make you smile, but it does. You thought he’d die before giving in to you, but here you are, inching up the hierarchy, determined to be equal to him, and in doing so, pushing his work down just one peg. And you did it through softness, the sweetest stealth he never saw coming.

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a/n there were so many ways I could have gone with this one, but this is how it came out. I was feeling a bit too Hades and Persephone for my own good. I want to write more Donaka, but I need some help for inspiration on his character!

#man of tai chi #donaka mark/reader #donaka mark/you #fanfic trope challenge #i can't sleep so i'm writing this nonsence

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belizedeservesbetter · 5 years

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Hadestown Has Something to Say!

And I’m so glad it does!

File Hadestown under Shows That Make You Go “Hmm.” This is a show I’ve liked more and more the longer the show has been over and the more I’ve had time to sit and think about it.

Overall, I really really loved it. It’s such a rich musical filled with amazing stage pictures and beautiful music and really powerful and passionate performances. This is a passion project on stage and it’s marvelous.

The score, of course, is amazing. Anais Mitchell has really written something very special here. I’ve really never heard anything like it before on Broadway - this mix of folk and jazz and rock with an undercurrent of sheer musical theatre. The “Chants” in particular are astounding. Likewise “When the Chips Are Down” and “Wait For Me” and “His Kiss, the Riot” are stunning achievements in musical theatre writing. However. I have one very big qualm about the score, but I’ll talk about this later.

I know we all love Rachel Chavkin but she really is quite stellar. The phrase I keep coming back to when thinking about her directing style is “all consuming.” Between this and The Great Comet, her musicals feel like being swallowed whole by which I mean everything is very big and very powerful and very emotional and very much like I’m being punched in the gut. I love this feeling. I love theatre that makes me feel like the rest of the world doesn’t exist and she does this with her work.

What Chavkin does with stage imagery is phenomenal. There is a real sense of other worldliness while still being very grounded in the one we live in. You can tell she really gets these characters and she gets these themes and literally every moment is used to drive the story and make you feel something. There’s a real sense of power in her directing that makes the audience feel every suckerpunch of this show. “Wait For Me” in particular was a showstopper.

The lighting was wonderful. Like truly stunning. The contrast between light and dark in this show was really interesting and sources of light and what that means was also very fascinating to see. From Eurydice’s candle to the handheld miner lights, everything had meaning and everything felt very poignant.

Everyone in this show is very good. There isn’t a single bad performance. Eva Noblezada was very surprisingly good - surprising only because I’d never seen her perform before and she really added a lot of good things to Eurydice.

However, this is Amber Grey’s world and we’re all just living in it. She is AMAZING. She steals every scene and every moment. She is absolutely incredible in every way. The hype about her performance is 100% real and she is honestly and truly the best part of the show. I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role because she is truly perfect. Her Persephone is so layered and so fearful and damaged and fraying at the edges and yet so strong and steadfast and determined. I want to see the show again and just focus in on her the whole time because she is amazing. Even just the way she moves and dances was electric.

And of course Patrick Page is also stellar. He brings such an intensity to every role he plays, and Hades feels like the culmination of Many Years of Intense Roles. This is also the second role where he’s been mean to Reeve Carney. But I digress. He’s fantastic. His “His Kiss, the Riot” vibrated throughout the entire theatre. His Hades is so complicated and yet very simple and the way Page carries his Hades is really really wonderful. He has this fluidity to him (that also echoes throughout the entire show and I’ll talk about this later) that feels like he was made to be in this very moment at this time.

André de Shields was another standout for how present he is during the entire show. He doesn’t leave the stage at all really during the entire show and he has this particular brand of swagger and simmer to him. I felt him there throughout the whole just contemplating the cycle of everything going on and yet when the focus wasn’t on him he didn’t steal the attention. Hermes is a very complicated role (side note but I have a theory he’s Orpheus’ dad) because he’s part narrator, part plot moving character and the only one aware of how time works in this world and is also the one telling us the story from start to finish. He has to balance the whole show on his shoulders and de Shields does it wonderfully.

My goodness those Fates. They were sinister and terrifying and felt like the true villains of the show. They’re basically inner demons personified and they infected every character in the most deliciously evil way. They were so fascinating to watch and I want to read like ten think pieces on them.

I’ve been raving about this show but there are some things I really didn’t like about it and want to address.

The first is that all the actors really play to the center orchestra, and, likewise, it’s very much directed that way. The sight lines from the sides is kind of bad, especially from the rush seats. I felt like I was staring at their backs more than I’d like to. They need to play to the whooooole audience. By the way, the rush situation for this show is Awful and they only have like five tickets total. Like that’s all. Myself and a friend got there at like 4:30am and we’re fifth and 6th in line and they had already run out of evening show tickets and we got the last of the matinee ones. About twenty people behind us had also been waiting like 5 hours and got absolutely nothing. So be warned of that!

And my biggest qualm with the show. My biggest biggest problem with the show is that Anais Mitchell ruined my absolute favorite part of the show with the Broadway transfer. All three “Epics” were my favorite songs in the show and had the most beautiful imagery in the Off-Broadway run and concept album. Here, however, they’ve been stripped of their beautiful poetry and imagery and are really basic songs. I was SO disappointed. The three songs that were my favorite parts of the show became the worst parts of the show. The new versions are honestly bad and it’s disappointing because they didn’t used to be and they don’t have to be.

It’s hard to believe that Orpheus’ song is gonna save the world because it’s the weakest song in the show. Reeve sings it beautifully but I was so disappointed and honestly hated this change.

Speaking of Reeve, he’s good! He isn’t amazing, but he’s good and I like the very different approach he’s taking with Orpheus. His Orpheus is scared and anxious and insecure but very very talented. Reeve really gets his footing in Act Two, where he shines. Not spoiling anything but the second to last scene is his best and he’s completely heartbreaking.

The show is super interesting in how it moves forward and progresses. It just kind of flows from one thing to the next and one moment to the next and it actually reminded me a lot of wind. It felt very much like the wind was blowing the story along and I know that’s a weird way to put it but that felt very much like a thing that was going on.

Also, this show has this really beautiful fluidity in the way characters walk and the way everyone, especially Hades, moves on the turntables. Honestly this is the best use of turntables I’ve ever seen in theatre. It creates the atmosphere and adds so much to the cyclical nature of things and the way it shows movement is beyond beautiful. The movement throughout this show really shined.

Hadestown has a lot to say and I’m so glad it does. I’m so glad this is a bold new musical that wants to say something and says it.

There’s so much in this show about capitalism and the dangers of power hungry capitalists and there’s so much about poverty and the lengths people will go to get simple basic needs fulfilled. There’s something really interesting in this show about work and how powerful people use it to completely dehumanize people. Likewise, there’s this very interesting struggle between art and capitalism and artists and money which was super interesting to see personified in Orpheus and Hades.

Much like Oklahoma!, I felt this show also had a strong theme of “us versus them” especially in “Why We Build the Wall.” This is such a big thing in American culture that I’ve seen displayed a lot in theatre lately and I think it’s important that it is. It’s important that we’re forced to confront things about America as a whole country that have been prevalent forever but never said aloud.

Interestingly enough, I feel like Hadestown says a lot about activism. And leadership. Orpheus is continuously presented as this musician who is going to change the world and yet Orpheus isn’t entirely capable in his actions. He has the right words but he doesn’t trust himself enough to fully believe in it - or that others believe in him - despite this song doing magical things. He also must be physically pushed by Hermes to do anything. I saw this as an interesting statement on those who can change the world relying on words over action as well as talking about self confidence and doubt and believing/not believing in yourself. I know that Damon Daunno played Orpheus as extremely cocky and self-assured and seeing Reeve Carney at the opposite end of this is very interesting. I’d like to see Orpheus played somewhere in the middle.

Going along with that, consequences and choices are a big theme in Hadestown, and I felt that most of the time Eurydice was forced to make choices in order to survive and faced horrible consequences anyway rather than the usual “dumb characters makes bad decision and suffers” or even the Louis Ironson kind of “He knows he shouldn’t do this but is going to do it anyway” kind of thing.

Oddly enough I loved the statement on climate change this show made.

I’ve found myself being drawn to art and theatre about cycles and repetitions lately, and Hadestown is exactly that to a t. I don’t know why I love theatre like this so much, maybe it’s my inherent pessimism that nothing ever changes and that we as humans inherently bold that capacity for badness in us, but I suppose it also goes along with my inherent optimism that things can change, we as humans have the capacity for change and maybe one day we actually will. The way this show ends is really really wonderful in this way.

And of course this show speaks so much about love and love and heartbreak and love and trust. Old love and new love. The parallels between Hades/Persephone and Orpheus/Eurydice are really well done. Trust is such an interesting aspect of this show and I’m glad Anais Mitchell and Rachel Chavkin never shy away from the uglier aspects of it.

Lastly, Hadestown has what I will now be calling Big SNM Energy, aka Big Sleep No More Energy. I am fully convinced that Chavkin took some inspiration from that show, or at least both Hadestown and Sleep No More take place in the same universe.

The vibe and feel of both shows is incredibly similar. Likewise, the swinging lights in “Wait For Me” are exactly like the swinging lights in Sleep No More. There were also similar themes of things happening in a cycle, things repeating but moving forward anyway, good and evil, temptation and choices/consequences. The Fates had a very similar feel to the three Sleep No More witches when they’re together. The sheer detail of it all and the location. My friend thinks Hecate is Hades’ ex, which actually narratively works for both shows.

Hadestown will absolutely be a show I revisit as much as I can because there is just so much in there. There’s so much detail and so much to think about, which all good theatre should have.

#hadestown #broadway #reeve carney #amber grey #review #voice

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nytwhadestown · 6 years

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Hadestown songs on a scale from damn good to amazing: Act 2

(Act I)

Our Lady of the Underground: Amber Gray delivers us the sexiest shit I’ve ever heard. Her voice is so smoky and growly and beautiful. Great imagery and interesting, unique lyrics. Every one of them is perfectly written and delivered. Solid points for how she sings “Per-seph-o-ne.” Big shoutout to Brian Drye on Trombone- amazing, my dude. 10/10.

Way Down Hadestown II: The tea: Way Down Hadestown II is just as good as Way Down Hadestown. Brings in the creepy darkness of the first Chant. The fates get some cool things, and Hermes covering the low harmonies with the them on lines like “shoveling coal in a big black hole to keep his boiler boiling” is a great piece of music. Some of the most interesting poetry. 10/10.

Flowers: This is probably my favorite thing Eurydice gets to do. It’s so mournful and soft and beautiful. It gives Eurydice a moment of her own that she doesn’t quite get in act I and its such a wonderful look into her character. I love you Nabiyah Be. 8/10.

Come Home With Me II: Okay, just rip my heart out, why don’t you? 9/10.

Papers: YOUNG MAN. 8/10.

Nothing Changes: The Fates are a little mean and scary but they give us some great drama. And great harmonies. As always. 7/10.

If It’s True: The Peak Of Sorrow. Among the most stunning things Damon does (also heyo Chris Sullivan its always good to hear you too.) I can’t listen to this song without coming to the brink of tears at least. The tears in Orpheus’ voice in no way takes away from the sheer amazement of his music. Perfect. “Take these hands” alone merits a 10/10.

How Long: A conversation between gods makes for a divine fucking song. Listen to the way Patrick’s voice becomes the bass and melts into Amber’s at the end. How long? How Long? How Long? 10/10.

Chant II: Okay first of all Hades what the fuck are you talking about? The vocals are nice but I mean dude. Have u ever actually met a woman. Some nice wisdom from Persephone. Cool parallels. “When I was a young girl” made us all gay. I love when Eurydice and Orpheus share the La la la la la la. 10/10.

Epic III: Thank you Damon Daunno and Anaïs Mitchell for my life. This song could win favors from the gods. It is so ethereal and powerful. The strength of the lyrics and the vocals and the soft guitar are incredible. 15/10.

Lover’s Desire: Hades and Persephone moved to dancing together? I’m in love too!! 9/10.

Word to the Wise: Interesting talk about the stakes of Hades’ decision. “Damned if you don’t/damned if you do/whole dam nation’s watching you” is one of the best lines, I love the play on damn nation versus damnation 7/10.

His Kiss the Riot: Bone chilling, eerie. Poisonous. Beautiful. Some of the coolest orchestrations in the whole show. Patrick Page’s voice seems to come right up from the depths of hell. 9.5/10.

Promises: A really rational conversation where they both lay bare all their reservations and thoughts and agree, despite the mistakes they’ve both made, to be there for eachother. The most mature love song between the young lovers. Makes me smile for the two of them one last time. 8/10.

Wait for Me II: The challenge of the end of the show is wrapped up and sent out on the road. A really high note for Hades and Persephone. They’re learning. No matter what goes wrong you know this experience wasn’t for nothing because it helps them. Sounds triumphant. Hermes gives a really wise narration (I love him.) 10/10.

Doubt Comes In: Though you might leave the show blaming Orpheus, this song makes it really clear how he feels and how he fears. It feels like the nerves running through you on high alert. One last shoutout to that fucking falsetto and to the rich depth of Nabiyah Be’s voice.The song’s really shadowy and magnificent. The repetition of “you’re early”/“I missed you” is so effective and so fucking sad. 10/10.

Road to Hell II: Hermes is all of us. “Ok that was fucking sad but we’re going to keep singing the same song and MAYBE THIS TIME ITS GONNA BE FINE???” A good tribute not only to the characters but to the myth. Circular ending. Spring had come again. 9/10.

I Raise My Cup: Lets us all say goodbye and remember well. Reminds us what Orpheus stood for and where the beauty in his story comes from. Bittersweet, but full of this wonderful honor. Melancholy and I don’t know, sort of lasting and longing and beautiful. 10/10. I raise my cup to him.

#hadestown #long post/#mine

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ionlyeatcomfortfood · 4 years

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The Asks

@fandima did all of them for me, so I shall do them all for her.

1. When you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

Cereal

2. Do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintry day?

No. Cold can go fuck itself.

3. What random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

Hands, leaves, socks.

4. How do you take your coffee/tea?

Coffee I do with a little creamer, and tea I take as is.

5. Are you self-conscious about your smile?

Yes. There’s a reason I say my teeth are ‘monster teeth’

6. Do you keep plants?

I don’t get plants, so no.

7. Do you name your plants?

I name everything. I may not name my plants, but I sure do name my friend’s.

8. What artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

Music. I will sing a sad song when I am sad, I will scream-sing at you if I am mad.

9. Do you like singing/humming to yourself.

Yep. Do it all the time.

10. Do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

Side.

11. What’s an inner joke you have with your friends?

Ha ha..... tree.

12. What’s your favorite planet?

Pluto. Pluto is family. Ohana means family. Family means no one is left behind or forgotten.

13. What’s something that made you smile today?

My little sister laughing.

14. If you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

Messy, art shit everywhere. Something is cooking and it smells wonderful. The walls are painted with murals, and every piece of furniture is soft and comfortable. There are so many books.

15. Go Google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!

The Milky Way smells like rum and tastes like raspberries.

16. What’s your favorite pasta dish?

Any pasta dish, except spaghetti.

17. What color do you really want to dye your hair?

All of them! But mostly rainbow right now.

18. Tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

Not always brought up, but my friends really like to make fun of me when I mess up grammar, considering I’m the one who normally corrects them.

19. Do you keep a journal? What do you write/draw in it?

I used to, but I don’t anymore.

20. What’s your favorite eye color?

All of them!

21. Talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces?

I don’t really have a bag like that.

22. Are you a morning person?

No. I almost always would prefer night to the morning.

23. What’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days when you have 0 obligations?

Read or write.

24. Is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

No. Nothing against any of those people, it’s all me.

25. What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into?

Old abandoned Marsh store.

26. What are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

My tennis shoes.

27. What’s your favorite gum flavor?

Peppermint!

28. Sunrise or sunset?

Both, when I’m up for sunrise.

29. What’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

Aven makes emoticon faces and it’s really cute!

30. Think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

Yes. A couple of times, actually. Once I thought I was in a fucking horror movie. Not fun.

31. What is your opinion of socks? Do you like wearing weird socks? Do you sleep with socks? Do you confine yourself to white sock hell? Really, just talk about socks.

Socks are awesome! I wear exclusively weird socks, none of that white sock shit. No socks when sleeping, though.

32. Tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3 am with your friends?

I only stay up to three by myself.

33. What’s your fave pastry?

Baklava!

34. Tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. What is it called? What does it look like? Do you still keep it?

There was a couple, but my favorite was Peanut Butter, a light brown teddy bear my aunt got me. And yes I do still have it.

35. Do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? Do you use them often?

No and no.

36. Which band’s sound would fit your mood right now?

Panic! At the Disco.

37. Do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

Clean

38. Tell us about your pet peeves!

Privilege.

39. What color do you wear the most?

Gray.

40. Think of a piece of jewelry you own what’s it’s story? Does it have any meaning to you?

Necklace and ring my nana gave to me. It has only meaning in the fact she got it for me. I don’t wear jewelry.

41. What’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

The Wrath and the Dawn, plus the sequel.

42. Do you have a favorite coffee shop? Describe it!

Starbucks? I don’t drink a whole lot of coffee.

43. Who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

Myself.

44. When was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

Earlier today, after I finished yoga. I felt at peace.

45.Do you trust your instincts a lot?

Yes. Every time I don’t trust them, something bad happens.

46. Tell us the worst pun you can think of.

Gee, I can’t think of any. I feel super pun-intelligent.

47. What food do you think should be banned from the universe?

CELERY. FUCK IT. NO ONE SHOULD EAT IT EVER.

48. What was your biggest fear as a kid? Is it the same today?

I was afraid of the dark as a kid. Now I’m scared of heights.

49. Do you like buying CDs and records? What was the last one you bought?

No.

50. What’s an odd thing you collect?

Pop tabs.

51. Think of a person. What song do you associate with them?

I associate ‘Into the Unknown’ with my little sister since she loves the song so much.

52. What are your favorite memes of the year so far?

None. I do not seek out memes, they find me.

53. Have you ever watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Heathers? Beetlejuice? Pulp Fiction? What do you think of them?

No, but I love the musicals for Heathers and Beetlejuice.

54. Who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

My brother, when he was talking about a thing.

55. What’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

Almost set someone on fire.

56. What are some things you find endearing in people?

Everything. I love people.

57. Go listen to Bohemian Rhapsody. How did it make you feel? Did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

I like the song. Nothing amazing, but I like it.

58. Who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? Why?

No one’s the wine mom, but my best friend is the vodka aunt. She is batshit crazy. (in a good way)

59. What’s your favorite myth?

Most Greek myths, but especially the story of Hades & Persephone.

60. Do you like poetry? What are some of your faves?

I am a poet, and I love Emily Dickinson. My favorite is ‘Hope is the Thing With Feathers’

61. What’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? The stupidest one you’ve ever received?

Idk what this would be. Any gifts I give or receive have meaning.

62. do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

63. are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

Music? No. Books? Yes. Alphabetized by author’s last name, like a library.

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

Dark Blue

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with?

My friends. D:

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like?

RAINBOW ROSES THAT MAKE ME LOOK PRETTY

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

I feel at peace.

68: what’s winter like where you live?

Barely anything, especially compared to where I used to live.

69: what are your favorite board games?

All of them.

70: have you ever used a Ouija board?

No. Kaz don’t mess around with angry spirits.

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea?

Peppermint

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

Yes

73: what are some of your worst habits?

Nail biting and isolation

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

Sweet, gorgeous, attentive, and hard working.

75: tell us about your pets!

Kaz has no pets D:

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

Writing

77: pink or yellow lemonade?

Yellow

78: are you in the minion hateclub or Fan club?

I don’t hate the minions, but I certainly don’t like them.

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

Aven drew the Kaz Protection Squad Picture. It’s still one of my favorite things.

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color?

Off white. No

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

The lightest void that shifts and shimmers

82: are/were you good in school?

83: what’s some of your favorite album art?

I like the art for Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

Yes. Heart on my wrist, ‘it’s okay’ on the other, ‘hetero-ever after doesn’t have to be the norm’ on the back of my calf, ‘and love is not a choice’ on my upper arm, ‘so smart’ on my inner arm, and a watercolor rainbow flag on my other upper arm.

85: do you read comics? what are your faves?

Peanuts.

86: do you like concept albums? which ones?

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

Coco

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

Surrealism

89: are you close to your parents?

Yes.

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

I don’t like cities. I like the country.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year?

Nowhere

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

The former

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most?

Loose and messy

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

My dad.

95: what are your plans for this weekend?

Watch TV and YouTube

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

Procrastinate

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

ISTJ-T/Logician, Taurus, Ravenclaw

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

Forever ago. NO.

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

Recipe for Me, Demons, and Sober (never had a drink, just resonate with her feelings)

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

Future. The past needs to stay there.

#avi answers

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