forever we try

Themultifandomdrabble  collection revealed earlier today; I ended up writing three treats, two single drabbles and one triple drabble:

The Man in the Black Suit (Hadestown, Hades & Orpheus): He follows Orpheus now.

you & your pity (Hadestown, Hades/Persephone): "The girl doesn't fit in my bed."

Asteria (Greek mythology, genderswapped Minotaur): Every day her footsteps echo beneath mine. I imagine her furious snorts and her lonely bawls, that what voice she has sounds not unlike my own.

And here are some recs of stories I've read so far:

Dance Lessons by sholio  (Stranger Things): Steve teaches the kids (but especially Max) to dance for the Snow Ball. Perfectly funny and sweet.

They Also Serve by The_Wavesinger (LOTR): A volunteer in the Houses of Healing during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. I have a soft spot for OC-focused fic for LOTR in particular, and this one is just lovely.

Dal Segno by The_Wavesinger (LOTR): A snippet of Arwen's childhood; a bit foreboding in the best way.

Across So Wide a Sea by Northland (LOTR): Arwen looking out to sea. Atmospheric and melancholy.

Restoration by disgruntled_owl (Penny Dreadful): A missing scene between Victor and Vanessa set during the season 1 possession episode. The voices are pitch-perfect, and it's a fantastic, quiet moment of friendship between them. 

I spent most all of my free time last week writing 12kish words of Hades/Persephone babyfic and about killed my brain in the process--it's been a while since I wrote anything over 2,000-3,000 words and finals week is coming up FAST--but also I regret nothing because Hades/Persephone babyfic. I don't know if anyone has an undying need for the most dysfunctional couple ever to start procreating, but if you do...here it is. As always there are a whole bunch of things I'd fix if I had more time/knew how to, but overall I'm not completely ashamed of it, which is always a good thing. I just wish there was more kid/babyfic in the Hadestown fandom specifically, because I, for one, do have an undying need to see the most dysfunctional couple ever with babies, and writing your own fics is great but never quite the same as reading someone else's. 

So, yeah. I think I'm going through the worst of my Hadestown obsessive spiral right now, which isn't super ideal when it comes to the timing of final exams and papers but is at least a nice distraction. Also, we've just started to get more spring-like weather around here, so listening to the recording on repeat feels especially appropriate. :) The cyclical nature of the story--at least when it comes to the gods; Orpheus and Eurydice don't get the luxury of trying over and over and over again--makes me so hopeful and sad at the same time; so does the theme of art being both enough and absolutely not enough. I'm probably biased in her favor, anyway, but Eurydice doesn't make any choices that I probably wouldn't make if I were in the same situation, and the fact that she makes what seems to be the best choice at the time and ends up trapped in Hadestown for eternity...if it comes down to a choice between your true love and, y'know, having enough food to get you through the winter, I can't see all that many people deciding any differently than she did. That being said, I do love Orpheus. I love pretty much everyone, and there's no clear-cut villain in the story, even when it comes to Hades, and it makes the whole thing 100x better and 100x sadder.