#and that's how you know she's seeing the two different worlds that exist inside hadestown. just hearing anais in the chorus

[kareenvorbarra]

Even just reordering the songs in bway hadestown so that Eurydice is on stage during Why We Build The Wall and Our Lady of the Underground would improve things so much….you have the “step into my office” bit, you have Persephone react to that, then you have the song where Eurydice meets the other workers and sees what’s actually going on, then Why We Build the Wall is her having apparently given up and lost her identity like the others…..THEN at the end of Why We Build the Wall, Hades leaves the stage and the other workers turn to Eurydice and take her by the hands and smile, and they bring her to Persephone’s bar and they’re all in the chorus for Our Lady and Eurydice realizes that the people here ARE still people and they do have somewhere to talk where Hades isn’t listening (and all the lyrics to Our Lady actually make sense again lmao, ESPECIALLY “there’s a crack in the wall”)

Also I just really want to see Persephone and Eurydice interact on stage in this context….like Eurydice is a little wary bc she’s pretty sure Persephone is jealous of her, but Persephone knows what’s up and sees the new girl that Hades tricked and discarded and picks her out of the crowd during the musical interlude, and twirls her around while the rest of the cast cheers, and gives her a drink and sends her back to her seat…Eurydice stares at her like she’s entranced…idk. Just a little something that sets up how close they are in “I Raise My Cup to Him” as well as Persephone’s sympathy for Orpheus and Eurydice specifically

#obviously the simplest changes would be like. giving everyone their concept album verses in 'way down' and 'doubt comes in' #but 'our lady' is still the thing that makes me angriest lmao #i know there needs to more more connective plot in the show and i actually LIKE some of it during this part #but in the album you can HEAR anais singing on 'why we build the wall' and 'our lady of the underground' #bc her voice is so distinctive! so you know eurydice is there! #and that's how you know she's seeing the two different worlds that exist inside hadestown. just hearing anais in the chorus #the stage show adds so much stuff and yet restricts the world of the story in a major way. ugh #(i saw the touring production and it was very beautiful! not quite as frustrating as bway because i was prepared for the changes) #(but still deeply frustrating. also the orpheus singer was WAY better than reeve but the eurydice singer was very inferior to eva) #(so i have still never seen a production where i really liked both leads. rip) #hadestown

[anais-mitchell]

a comprehensive list of every never before seen hadestown lyric revealed in “working on a song”

Note: This list will not include any lyrics from the OBCR, Broadway previews documented in audios, the London run, the Edmonton run, or the NYTW run. Only lyrics that Anaïs has never revealed before. Also, I strongly recommend everyone actually read the book and support Anaïs! It has amazing insights into the show we love. 

(Also, any ellipses mean the song just goes into the lyrics we already know)

Wedding Song

In early Vermont productions, Wedding Song did not exist; there was another duet called Everything Written.

Fates: Seven Sisters / Little Dipper / Great Bear, Hunter / Drinking Gourd / Libra, Leo / Pisces, Pluto / Venus, Virgo / Capricorn

Eurydice: Don’t it make, don’t it make you feel so small? / Orpheus, when you look up at it all? / When I look into the skies / I lose my head for scale and size / And still you’re larger in my eyes / Than any star / You pull on me like gravity / I want to be where you are

They say that everything is written / Everything written in those stars / The very lives we’re living / The very love in our hearts

Orpheus: Who could write, who could write this kind if love? / From such a height, all these light-years up above? / And all these light-years down below / I don’t need any star to show me / What my heart already knows / Eurydice / You pull on me like gravity / I want to be where you are

Eurydice: Come here

Orpheus: I’m here

Eurydice: It’s so cold

Orpheus: So clear

Eurydice: It’s so dark

Orpheus: So fair

Eurydice: Come near

Orpheus: I’m here

Eurydice: You’re there

A workshop version of Wedding Song included this exchange:

Eurydice: You have a way with words don’t you? It’s too bad none of them are true

Orpheus: It’s not a lie- It’s poetry

Eurydice: How many mouths does a poem feed?

Epic I

From 2007 Vermont:

Orpheus: King of diamonds, king of spades! / First there was Hades, king of the dirt / Miners of mines, diggers of graves / They bowed down to Hades who gave them work /  And they bowed down to Hades who made them sweat / Who paid them their wages and set them about / Digging and dredging and dragging the depths / Of the Earth to turn its insides out / Singing la la la la la la la...

Then came Persephone, Hades’s wife / Our Lady of Shadows and Meadows entwined / Made to spend half of the days of her life / Right alongside of him down in the mine / But the other half she could walk in the sun / And the sun in turn burned half as bright / Which is where the seasons come from / And with them the cycle / Of the seed and the sickle / And the lives of the people / And the birds in their flight / Singing la la la la la la la...

So it was and it might have stayed / And the sun came up and the sun went down / A circle of fourths, a perfect cadence / The serpent’s tail in the serpent’s mouth / But the strong will take what they want to take / And the weak can only tell the tale / And the king began to lay his heavy hand upon the scale / What did he want? He wanted Our Lady / To have and to hold, not half, but wholly / To love him and never to leave him again / And as for the seasons, to hell with them! / And the earth warmed over in the dead of winter / The stillborn spring lay cold beneath /  Summer gave a stormy sermon / Autumn walked in the wake with a wreath / And the people moved like weather patterns / Looking for shelter, looking for warmth / Helter-skelter the four winds scattered / The scavengers over the ravaged earth / Singing la la la la la la la...

From a workshop, presumably pre-London:

Hermes: Orpheus was a poor boy / But he had a gift to give / There was one song he’d been working on / He could never seem to finish / A song about this broken world / That he rewrote again and again / As though if he could find the words / He could fix the world with them

Livin’ It Up On Top

From pre-NYTW workshops:

Persephone: A hundred sunny summer days / Till my lover comes to find me / A hundred blooming olive trees / And a hundred grapevines climbing / Singing songs when the sun goes down / Light the fire in the darkness / Brother, pass that bottle around / And we’ll raise a glass to the harvest, it’s / Just enough fruit for the pressing / Just enough wine to fill our cups / But what we have is a blessing / It isn’t much but it’s enough

Eurydice: A hundred starry summer nights / Since my lover came and found me / Picking fruit and hopping freights / With his music all around me / Stay up late making love / All the stars are naked / Talking sweet and sleeping rough / Our bed is where we make it, there’s / Just enough fruit for the pressing...

Way Down Hadestown

From when Anaïs was 21, long before the show was even a concept:

Follow that dollar for a long way down / Far away from the poorhouse door / You either get to hell or a border town / Ain’t no difference anymore...

Suckin’ on the gristle and chewin’ on the bone / Thinkin’ ‘bout missiles and the old Dow Jones / All alone on your chromium throne /And lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely...

From 2006:

Persephone: Though I’m happy at his side / He’s not an easy man to love / I used to keep him satisfied / But lately he can’t get enough / Never enough of the mine and the mill / Never enough of his working girls / Never enough of the wall he’s building / All around the underworld / Way down Hadestown...

Orpheus: Mr. Hades is slick as an eel / Fountain pen, crocodile shoes / Quick as a snake, and he’s hot on your heels / He’ll make you an offer that you can’t refuse! / Way down Hadestown...

Hermes: Speak of the devil and the devil comes / Here comes Mister Hades now / To gather up his chosen ones / And bring ‘em down to Hadestown / Way down Hadestown...

From 2007:

Hermes: Make room, make room for Hermes, sir! / Make a little room for Hermes, ma’am / They call me a messenger / But that ain’t half of who I am 

I’m a man of influence / I’m connected up and down / And  I got all the documents / You need to get to Hadestown / Way down Hadestown...

Tired of walking in your worn-out shoes? / Tired of running on nothing at all? / Tired of standing your bets to lose? / Tired of losing? Give me a call, we’ll go... / Way down Hadestown...

Orpheus: Mister Hades got an iron fist / Step outta line and he’ll have your head / In the blink of an eye, with a flick of the wrist

Hermes: Hang around here and starve instead!

Orpheus: It’s a cattle pen!

Hermes: It’s a feeding trough!

Orpheus: He’ll fatten you up just to cut you down! / I’d rather starve

Hermes: I’d rather stuff my pockets down in Hadestown! / Way down Hadestown...

Hey, Little Songbird

Anaïs says she tried out this line in 2017 to include a more explicit “job offer” in the wake of the MeToo movement:

Hades: Hey, little songbird, gimme a song / I’m a busy man, and I can’t stay long / I’ve got clients to call, I’ve got orders to fill / I’ve got millions of souls on my payroll, but hell / I could fit you as well if you wanted

When the Chips are Down

From Vermont, 2006:

Fates: Cross my palm! Grease my chin / Can’t you see the kind of shape you’re in? / What you gonna do... ?

Wait For Me

From Vermont, 2007:

(These exchanges intercut the chorus)

Hades: Hermes! / Hermes: Hades! / Hades: Back in town! / Please, sit down / Please, relax / You’ve been around the world and back / Haven’t you, Hermes? / Hermes: I have / Hades: How’s the weather? / Hermes: Worse than ever / How’s your wife? / Hades: My wife is fine / Hermes: You’ve been spending a lot of time together / Haven’t you, Hades?

Hades: What have you brought? / Hermes: The latest crop / Hades: The freshest cut? / Hermes: A cut above / Hades: How many of them, a lot? / Hermes: A lot / Hades: A few too many perhaps / What’s this? / Why have you brought me Orpheus? / I know I never ordered that / It seems you’ve gone behind my back / Haven’t you, Hermes?

Hades: What was that? / Hermes: What was what? / Hades: I heard a voice / Hermes: I heard it not / Hades: Someone singing / Hermes: I heard nothing / Hades: Some kind of song / Hermes: You could be wrong / It could have been the wind / Hades: The wind? / Hermes: It could have been the rain / Hades: The rain? / Hermes: It could have been the train... (the train / the train / the train / the train...)

From “an early cutting room floor version”:

Fates: One (one, one) / You forget the sun

Eurydice: I forget the sun

Fates: You forget where you come from / You forget the sun

Eurydice: I forget the sun

Fates: Two (two, two)

Why We Build the Wall

Pre-NYTW:

Hermes: A lot can happen behind closed doors / With the big boss and his fountain pen / A lot of dirty deals go down / When there ain’t nobody watching...

Our Lady of the Underground

The 2006 version of the song was called “A Crack in the Wall” and these were the lyrics:

Persephone: Come and see the stars! / They’re fixin to fall / Slidin’ and a-slipping’ / In their gravity shoes / Old Man Mars / Taking Venus to the ball / Big dipper dippin’ / To the blue-sky blues

Have you forgot? / Which was is up? / I think you’ll find / I have just the thing for you / Put a quarter in the slot / You can fill your loving cup / With a little bit of moonshine / From the pay-per-view

How selfless! / The silent moon / Holding a mirror / For an ungrateful sun / Hey, Orpheus! / Are you leaving so soon? / Every night around here / Is a fateful one 

Maybe you got blindsided / Lost your papers! / Lost your mind! / Maybe you once lost an angel / Just to watch her fall / Look a little closer and / The water turns to wine / Look a little closer: there’s a crack in the wall!

So I raise my cup / To the stars in the sky / If you want a show / Go on, get in line / Step right up brothers / Don’t be shy / What the boss don’t know / The boss won’t mind

Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)

A 2013 version of this song was called “No One Now,” delivered to Orpheus, and these are the lyrics:

Fates: Used to be a blushing bride / That was on the other side / Better to forget her face / Now she’s like the rest of us / One more number in a crowd / Maybe she was someone once / She ain’t no one now

Used to be a loving wife / That was in another life / Carve it on a marble stone / Now she’s like the rest of us / One more body in the ground / Maybe she was someone once / She ain’t no one now

Brother don’t you think we all / Used to have a name to call? / A tale to tell as well as her? / Now she’s like the rest of us...

Maybe when she first arrived / So alive, so naive / All the bright lights in her eyes / All her insides fluttering (alt. Heart aflutter on her sleeve) / Maybe she was someone then / Back when Hades drew her in / Like a moth into his flame / Borne aloft on burning wings / Well she ain’t the first and she ain’t the last / Hades’ fire is hot and fast / Just ask all the other girls / Sweeping up the ashes in the underworld / See even when the flame is new / She doesn’t hold a candle to / The woman Hades truly loves / So maybe she was someone once / But now she’s like the rest of us / All used up, all burned out / Maybe she was someone once / She ain’t no one now

From the Dartmouth workshop:

Hermes (to Orpheus): If you wanna get around down here in the tank / Down here in the clink / Down here in the hole / You got to think the way they think / Which is to say, your mind is blank / Which is to say, don’t think at all / Come / I’ll show you how it’s done 

Welcome to the skeleton crew! / Welcome to the chain gang, kid / Lemme introduce you to / The members of the working dead / Old Jack Hammer! / Mister Miner / Wandering forever in the catacombs / Working on a hole to China / Diggin’ up them dino bones / Way down...

Sweatshop Sally! Missus Miller! / Workin’ in the cellar where the sun don’t shine / Sad eyed little Cinderella / Sweeping up the ashes of the summertime / Used to be one a the boss’s pets / Now she’s just another stiff / One night in the boss’s bed / And a lifetime on the graveyard shift / Way down...

Flowers

Did not exist in Vermont, but there was a brief reprise of “Everything Written”: 

Eurydice: If it’s me- if it’s me you’re looking for / Orpheus, I can’t be with you anymore

Fates: She signed in blood / She signed for good

Eurydice: I signed before I understood / And I’d unsign it if I could / But it’s too late / They say that everything is written / Everything is written in those stars / Even these lives we’re living / Even this love

Fates: Seven sisters...

Papers

Pre-NYTW:

Hades: Let me see your papers, son / Let me see your documents / Or could it be that you have none? / You’re on the wrong side of the fence...

If It’s True

Pre-concept album:

Orpheus: If it’s true what they say / If there’s nothing to be done / If there’s no part left to play / If there’s no song to be sung / If it’s true what they say / If there’s no stone left to turn / If there’s no prayer left to pray / If there’s no bridge left to burn / If it’s true what they say / I’ll be on my way / If it’s true what they say / Then I have lived a lie / They can take the sky away / Take the stars out of my eyes / And my face will be a mask / And my heart will be a stone / And I’ll throw away the past / And I’ll go away alone...

How Long?

Pre-concept album:

Persephone (to Hermes): Brother Hermes, god of speed / Put your feathers on his feet / Hasten his delivery / Keep him hale and whole / Brother, I’m a jaded woman / But there’s something in his singing / And it feels like spring a-comin’ / To the winter of my soul 

Brother Hermes, god of speed / Put your feathers on his feet / Hasten his delivery / Keep him safe and sound / He reminds me of the lover / That I was when I was younger / Back before my heart went under / Undercover / Underground

Chant (Reprise)

Dartmouth Workshop, 2014:

Hades: And in this symphony of mine / Are power chords and power lines / Which I arrange and orchestrate / And every day I dedicate / The magnum opus of my life / To my unkind, ungrateful wife / Persephone, and she shall see / Her name in lights on my marquee / And every night, another show / My symphony will never close! / And she shall have a front row seat / Which she shall never, ever leave! / Young man, you can strum your lyre...

Epic III

Vermont:

Orpheus: The strong will take what they want to take / And the weak can only tell the tale / And the heart of the king loves everything / Like the hammer loves the nail

The heart of the king is iron and steel / The heart of the king is the color of rust / The heart of the king is soldered and sealed / The heart of the king is a tinderbox / That he has to keep under lock and key / That it not catch fire inside his chest / Cos a lover’s desire is a mutiny / A lover’s desire is a wilderness 

But even that hardest of hearts unhardened...

(I just have to say I fucking love this imagery of a fire oh my god)

Lover’s Desire

Anaïs once set the original Lover’s Desire melody to lyrics around the area of Wedding Song:

Orpheus: Lover, can you hear me? / I’m asking for your hand / Your hand for better or for worse / Forever / Whether you’re sick or well / For rich or poorer, to have and to hold for as / Long as we both shall live

Eurydice: Lover, can you hear me? / I’m asking for a hand / A hand that’s steady and strong / To lean on / To catch me if I fall / That’s the hand that I’ll have and I’ll hold for as / Long as we both shall live

Word to the Wise

Early workshops:

Fates: Hey / Hey / Hey / It’s judgement day! / Are you gonna let ‘em just walk away? / What you gonna do... ?

Wait For Me (Reprise)

Vermont:

Hades: Hermes!

Hermes: Hades!

Hades: Time to go / Time to bring this to a close / Time to lay this thing to rest 

Hermes: Orpheus?

Hades: Orpheus / It’s all agreed / We’ve struck a deal / He’s free

Hermes: He’s free?

Hades: He’s free to walk

Hermes: And she?

Hades: To follow at his heel / And she, to follow at his back

Eurydice: Wait for me, I’m coming...

Hades: And she shall follow at his back / And she shall follow in his wake

Hermes: And what’s the catch?

Hades: The catch is this: / He shall not turn to see her face / And if he turns, the game is up / The deal is off, his race is run / And that’s the end of Orpheus / You’ll see it done?

Eurydice: Wait for me, I’m coming...

Written at an unspecified time but never used:

Hermes: A poor boy and a hungry young girl / Walking single file / While the music played / Brother, they looked for all the world / Like they was walking down the aisle / On their wedding day

We Raise Our Cups

The show once ended with an alternate song called “Cloud Machine” in Vermont, the lyrics of which Anaïs says she is embarrassed by:

Orpheus: What have I done? Mother, what have I done? / Squandered the gift that you gave me / Gambled with Hades and Hades won / And there’s no song now that can save me 

Mother, I failed! Oh Mother, I tried / And I fell like a fool would fall / And I left my love / On the other side / On the other side of the wall

(Alt. There’s a crack in the wall / It’s a little bit wider / It’s a little bit wider, that’s all)

Persephone: Come, my son, don’t take it so hard / Everything is forgiven / You have done naught / But to play out the part / That the Fates in their wisdom have written

Orpheus: Raise up the curtain! The crowd goes wild! / The Fates are drunken clowns / All of us dreamers are walking the wire / While they juggle our dream around 

Apollo, come down in your cloud machine / Apollo, come swallowing fire / With your thunder and lightning and kerosene / For the Fates and their funeral pyre

Persephone: Come, my son, we try and we fail / Every tail has an end

But the pale dawn breaks / And the snake eats it’s tail / And the tale begins again...

#hadestown #working on a song #anais mitchell #orpheus #eurydice #hades #persephone #hermes #eva noblezada #amber gray #reeve carney #patrick page #andre de shields #my posts #this took so long omg pls don’t sleep on it #so many of these lyrics are so beautiful #if anyone wants to discuss them PLS hop in the inbox or dms

[roseategales]

OF A GOD & MAN — SEEING SOLAS THROUGH THE MIRROR OF HADESTOWN: INTRODUCTION.

When talking about the song Why We Build The Wall and the inspiration behind it, Anaïs Mitchell has described the imagery of the wall itself as “archetypal,” “mythic,” and an “effective idea when people are feeling vulnerable.” Her descriptions, I think, show us how well she understands not just the tragedy of the Orpheus myth and Greek Mythology, but what storytelling, at its heart, is: The exploration of tried and true struggles and archetypes that were and are so fundamental to human life that the ancients built whole mythologies to understand them, to wrestle with them, to use them to teach, and to comfort themselves and their loved ones, that’s carried on to the people of today.

Storytelling at its heart—emotionally compelling storytelling, especially—is reflection and recognition of these things. It’s a feedback loop between life and art, history and present, audience and author, the individual person and our communities. And so, inevitably, we’ll find patterns and parallels woven in through every work there is, because of the interconnectedness of society and its ideas.

Enter Hadestown and Solas of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Two admittedly unlikely places to find uncanny parallels in, however inevitable.

Upon first glance, there is nothing that should connect these two stories, beyond that they were written to be tragedies and based on pre-existing myths (Orpheus from Greek Mythology and Loki from Norse Mythology, respectively.) One is a concept album turned Broadway musical, the other is a character who was created for an RPG franchise. But the similarities are, like the imagery of the wall and the whole of their stories, archetypal. Cyclical, even.

Aside from the characters themselves, we see this in the use of common imagery and motifs both works employ to communicate their ideas to audiences. In DA:I, Solas likens the Fade to “a state of nature, like the wind” and a “fast flowing river [that can] drown careless children, [or] can also carry a merchant's goods or grind a millers flour.” The wind in Hadestown is associated with the Fates themselves—the three goddesses who hold and spin the destinies of gods and men, thus who are fittingly used in the musical as a paradoxical metaphor for the characters’ own thoughts and the adversities outside of their control. The rivers are sung of by the goddesses as a mirror to the way the world works:

Why the struggle, why the strain? / Why make trouble, why make scenes? / Why go against the grain, why swim upstream? / It ain't, it ain't, it ain't no use / You're bound, you're bound, you're bound to lose / What's done, what's done, what's done is done / That's the way the river runs.

And they’re also described by Orpheus as one of nature’s resources willing to provide for him and Eurydice once his song is complete, what deafens Hades, blinds Persephone, and, of course, as the barrier of the River Styx in Hadestown below.

Similarly, the concepts of melodies and songs are used to frame important devices in both Hadestown and Dragon Age. Orpheus’ continuous labour on “a song to fix what’s wrong” is a driving force for his character and the musical’s plot. Lyrium and the Veil in the Dragon Age mythos is said to emit a song or a frequency. When asked about the magic of the Ancient Elves, Solas describes the spells that take years to cast as “an unending symphony.” Even in trying to comfort Solas himself, Cole describes his wounds as such in this exchange:

Cole: You are quiet, Solas. Solas: Unless I have something to say, yes. Cole: No, inside. I don't hear your hurt as much. Your song is softer, subtler, not silent but still.

The notions of musicality are effective, as with the leitmotifs of the rivers and the wind. By invoking them, writers can call to mind the feeling of being tugged along by currents and tides, of rhythms and beats as natural to us as breathing, and pull us to connection with the worlds and characters they’ve created. That Patrick Weekes and the Dragon Age team recognised and leaned into this, is clever.

The formats of how these worlds and characters are presented to us also lend to the link between the two works. In the opening and penultimate numbers of the show, Hermes and the Chorus sing, “It’s an old song / And we’re gonna sing it again,” referencing that they are retelling the myth of Orpheus as well as beginning their specific interpretation anew.

Like a retelling, a soundtrack, and a musical, the very form of an RPG encourages me to go back to the beginning and play it again, and to rediscover and interact with it differently every time. I may know the major themes and pieces of the narrative, but I can revisit it and find new gems to examine that I might have missed before, or reread lines and see another interpretation layered upon them.

And on a beautifully meta level, the act of beginning a story again also relates to Solas in how he visits and relives memories in the Fade, reenacted by the spirits who’ve observed the scenes. There, he is an audience member, like us, watching retellings of legends long past.

So, while it’s surprising to see so many parallels between Solas, the world of Dragon Age, and Hadestown, it really shouldn’t be. The bricks laid for the foundation of their stories are ancient, made new.

It’s my hope that in writing this meta series, I’ll be able to use the parallels and character types of Hadestown to illuminate facets of Solas’ character, how he converses with the world he lives in, and vice versa. I’m going to be pulling from all three albums and their portrayals of the characters, and the related Greek myths. The series will be divided into three main parts and their own subsections: Solas and Orpheus, Solas and Hades, and Solavellan. The posts will mostly be composed like essays, like this one, but there will likely be shorter posts and observations too.

Let’s sing it all again.

#da meta #dai meta #solas meta #dragon age meta #mine. #text post. #of a god & man: solas & hadestown meta series. #dragon age. #hadestown. #solas. #hhhhh i'm doing this #i'm actually doing this #please send me questions if there's stuff you want me to cover specifically #i have notes but they're a mess lmao #long post /

[joyfulsongbird]

Brother, Don’t Bother

the promised “long lost brother” fic that I am finally delivering.

this is not my best work so please don’t judge me too harshly!

***

Springtime left a sweet taste of honey in Eurydice's mouth. Orpheus' smile left the hint of honeydew on her lips. Persephone had only been back about a two weeks and the world was all green and flourishing with too many colors to name. Eurydice shed her outer layer, flouncing about in her black lace dress, an unbuttoned mens vest hanging about her shoulders. The shoulders were too broad for her small frame but she refused to give it up, they had enough spare change for her to buy a new jacket or another dress as Orpheus reminded her constantly, but she refused, saying she didn't need anything new. They put that money away for safekeeping, for a rainy day. You never know when a storm will hit, when a fire gets out of control, when clothes rip, when chairs break. They saved it for emergencies, always fearing for the worst. It was how she was wired, it worried her husband sometimes. Habits are hard to break and lifelong habits the hardest. But she tried not to worry, afterall, it was spring.

The young couple walked through the town, arm in arm. Just to enjoy the sunshine, hear the birds sing. Sometimes they sat beneath a tree and Orpheus would sing. And for a moment, the birds quieted and there was only him.

Love grew richer in this season, a love already so rich got stronger. A bond carried over from hardships tightened and then loosened, letting them relax into each other.

It was days like these that they walked about. But today, Eurydice felt eyes on her back. It reminded her unnervingly of Hadestown, constant vigilance, the foreman shoving her forward, workworkworkworkworkcan'tstopwork-

"Love, are you alright?" Orpheus' hand on her forearm jarred her back into reality.

She licked her lips. "Yes, I'm fine, I just feel as if... as if someone's watching us. It's silly, I know, but I look at the faces of the people on the porches and in the window of the stores and it's like I'm looking for someone I know. Like I saw them earlier and didn't even realize it."

"It's not silly," he assured her. "Truly. I'll keep an eye out. Perhaps it's one of those older kids, playing a trick on us."

She nodded, not convinced but willing to allow her lover to walk her down Main street. People said hello as they passed by, Eurydice smiled back, happy to know that she's been here long enough to be recognized amongst long time patrons.

Her anxiety came to a peak when they entered the trading post, the man at the counter, trying to negotiate a price for flour looked oddly familiar. Perhaps this was the problem she'd been having all day. Yes, she'd seen this olive skinned, dark haired man this morning, watching her and Orpheus from the forest line. She sighed, content that her problem had been solved and that she could enjoy the glorious weather that wouldn't last forever. But to her dismay, the feeling persisted even more. Her stomach churned, a memory stirred somewhere in the back of her mind.

"I might sit down." she said under her breath. Orpheus' eyes snapped to her face, immediately. "I feel faint."

Guiding her gently to sit on a box by the window, she could see the dark haired man, still by the counter. Who? She needed to know? Who was he? Someone she had seen down below? No, that was impossible. Perhaps a man she'd seen at the bar. Or someone from before she knew Orpheus, someone who took advantage of a young girl in need. None of the ideas fit.

It wasn't until Orpheus touched her more intimately that the man turned around, revealing he'd been watching the couple's interaction from the glass behind the clerk's desk.

Orpheus pushed back her bangs. "You don't have a fever." his cold hand felt at her neck, a trick Hermes had taught him to look for fever, brushing his thumb briefly on her collarbone. Not an unwelcome touch by any means, but one that bothered the man at the desk.

He whirled around. "Get your hands off of her, man."

Eurydice narrowed her eyes at him, looking, looking, looking for some sign of who he existed as in her mind.

Orpheus stumbled with his words. "I-I'm... I didn't mean- I'm-"

"Don't apologize." she told him strictly. "You didn't do anything wrong..." to the mystery man: "Who even are you?"

A flash of hurt poisoned his face, furrowing his eyebrows and darkening his already pitch black eyes. "Gods, has it been that long, sis?"

Her legs carry her faster than her mind can move.

She's sobbing into his shoulder before even knowing how she got there. He's so tall, so damn tall that her feet dangle in the air but she doesn't care.

"Cas," she cried into shirt, "oh my- how-?"

She can hear the smile and tears in his voice. "Fate, destiny, whatever. I've been looking for so long... I never imagined I'd find you."

"I thought you were gone forever." she pulls away, planting a kiss on his cheek and setting herself on two feet again. She examines him then. "You've changed."

He's taller, bulkier than Orpheus' lanky frame. Cheekbones more prominent in his face. As per usual, his hands are twice the size of hers.

"So have you!" he laughs. She giggles, swiping the tears from her cheeks furiously.

"Yeah, well, it's been awhile." she sniffles into her hands, another hiccuping sob rising in her throat.

"You'll be turning twenty three in a couple months then?" he asks, the conversation feels like it's being weighed down by lead. Years of separation. The heaviness of family history is on their shoulders.

She nodded. "And you just turned twenty seven in December... we're old, Cas!"

"Not too old, yet."

Her eyes finally wandered from her brother's face back to Orpheus', whom she had briefly forgotten about in the heat of the moment.

"This is my older brother, the one I told you about, Castor. Cas, this is Orpheus." Orpheus steps forward, holding out a polite hand to shake. Castor hesitates before shaking it.

"Can I ask you a blunt question?"

"I- um- sure?" she knew he was having a tough time with the situation, she'd only briefly explained who Castor was before this day, and he hadn't even had a name to him until a few moments ago.

"Why were you putting your hands all over my sister?"

"Well, I... Eurydice?" he squeaked out.

"I should've finished my introductions more thoroughly. Castor, this is Orpheus, my husband." The look Eurydice gave him had a clear intention: don't say anything more about it. But of course, with a similar spirit as the sister, he didn't listen.

"Can we speak in private?" he asked.

"No," Eurydice said. "We should leave the store, go home. We'll talk more there."

The silence filled the air. "... home?"

"Yes." she clipped back, grabbing Orpheus' hand and motioning for Castor to follow. "We don't live far. But of course, you know that. You watched us all morning, didn't you?"

He nodded as they exited the trading post. "I wasn't even sure it was you. You look so different now."

Eurydice couldn't help but smile at the memory. She nudged Orpheus' shoulder. "Fourteen year old me was a different picture for sure. Long hair, no bangs, even shorter and skinnier."

"I can't seem to picture you without bangs." Orpheus laughed, he reached up as if to brush hair from her eyes, but lowered his hand quickly when remembering the third wheel in their presence.

"It was a darker time." Eurydice said.

"I know." Castor said calmly. Eurydice blinked hard, feeling a stinging in the back of her eyes, this time trying to force her tears back.

"Why didn't you bring me with you?" she asked. He opened his mouth, closed it again, no answer ready on his lips. "You said you'd take me with you, that when you left you'd bring me. You promised."

"'rydice, I can't explain- there's no reasonable explanation- you were so young." he attempted to spit out some sort of half apology, half explanation. She felt her anger rise in her chest. The springtime feeling long gone. As they approach their home, she feels the urge to rush inside, crawl under the blankets like she does in the winter, and burrow away from the world until Orpheus brings her back to reality with a beautiful song. Her tongue feels like lead, lips numb with an empty feeling.

The Fates are back suddenly.

he left you behind.

he never loved you.

why should he?

Shaking her head, as she fumbles for her key, she tries to get rid of these thoughts. These are the same thoughts that nearly poisoned her relationship with Orpheus. She's learning to recognize them as false, know that they are just figmented to bring her anger, sadness, force her to look at the men surrounding her as predators. It worked for so long, she's working every day to be better. But every once in awhile, through a crack, they slip in.

"Orpheus, do you mind waiting outside? We won't be long." she asked, he nodded quietly. Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go. She yearns for his warmth back but steps inside the small home nonetheless.

Castor closes the door behind them slowly. Eurydice busies herself, picking up the scattered clothes and undergarments that lie on the floor. Dumping them unceremoniously into the top drawer, planning to organize them later.

"Eurydice." Castor said loudly, as she moved about. "Eurydice."

"What?!" she answered.

"Husband?" he said, moving to pace with her through the kitchen. "Are you serious?"

"Why would I lie? Yes, he's my husband." With nothing more to pick up from the floor, she hovers awkwardly by the dining table.

"Why? You're so young. Twenty two! That's way too young to get married."

"Cas-"

"Did he force you? Eurydice, I swear, if he-"

"No! Gods, no! Of course not." she shouted, angry that he would even insinuate that about Orpheus. That he'd even suggest that such a kind souled man would even consider such a thing. "I made this choice. I love him. It isn't like I'm a kid making some rash decision."

Castor rubbed his forehead, walking back and forth before her. "How long have you known each other?"

"Is this really what we should be talking about?"

"How long?"

"I was nineteen, he was eighteen."

He nodded. "And? When did you get engaged?"

"It's complicated."

"Spill, little sister."

"It's actually that complicated, Castor." she assured him. "It's a story for a day when emotions aren't so high. All you need to know is that we got married last summer."

"How did you meet?"

She groaned. "This isn't the focus of our conversation. This is just my life. Orpheus is my husband, that's that. He's my home and nothing you say changes that. So let's move on to something more important like... like how did you get here? Where have you been all this time?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Here and there. Everywhere."

"where did you go?"

"North." he said simply. "I stayed there for awhile. I was trying to build a life but then I heard that it was warmer down here a couple years ago. It was slow going, I had to stop for weeks, sometimes months at a time in the winters. But I got here, someone told me this is where spring is the strongest and I see a girl, with black hair and... a little nose... and dark eyes like mine. As soon as I heard your voice, I knew for sure it was my lost sister."

"Why didn't you bring me with you?" she forces out the words, despite the fact they hurt.

"I came back for you, you know, a few years later. Probably when you were about seventeen. But you were already gone."

"You think I'd stay there for that long? After you left me alone? I was long gone before my fifteenth birthday!" she could feel herself getting more hysterical as time went on. she needed to say these things to him. It wasn't the same to talk to Orpheus, she needed to say them to his face.

"If you'd just taken me with you, we could've worked together! We could've built something! I wouldn't have needed to... Cas, you have no idea what I've done to survive. What I did to get myself to this place where I am happy with who I am and where I am. And if... gods-"

"What have you done to survive? What sort of things?" and raising her eyes to his, she could see some semblance of innocence in his gaze. He has had an easier life than her. He is intimidating and large and got through life with a built path whereas she had to pave the way for herself. Brick by brick, she made it here.

She shook her head. "So much. It's harder for a girl to get through life without giving up pieces of herself... Orpheus was never like that-"

"'that'?"

"He isn't selfish. He's good. Kind. Didn't want me just because I'm pretty or to take me all to himself. Other people... you don't know what it's been like, my walk through life has not been easy. And people take advantage of that."

It dawned on him, finally, what she was dancing around. What sort of work she did for all of these years. And in a dramatic fashion, he fell to his knees, before her and grabbed her hands. Pressing a kiss to each of her palms.

"I wish I'd taken you with me." he whispered.

"me too." Eurydice replied, peering down at the man before her. "Cas, don't feel guilty now. I'm happy. I have a good life now, a husband I love, people who love me. I'm whole here. Are you whole where you are?"

He didn't stand up from his kneeling position, but continued to look up at her, and she felt his reverence emanating from his body. He admired her for her strength, for the hope she kept safe in her chest.

"I don't know."

"You can stay with us, if you want." she murmurs, knowing what his answer will be.

"No... I can't."

"Well," Eurydice smiles, feeling the tears prickling their slow track down her cheeks again. She sees when he stands that his cheeks are wet and shining. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, you know where to find me."

Tugging her closer, she buries her face in his chest, breathing him in one more time. "Come back after this. Promise me, for real."

"I will. I will next spring, when I have my shit together. I'll come back with something good, anything good to show you."

"Good." she grins. "I love you, big brother."

"I love you."

Neither of them ever say the words goodbye. That'd feel too much like a finality. Because she's going to hold him to it. Next spring. He's coming back next spring.

Spring better be back early next year.

#hadestown #hadestown fic #orphydice #orphydice fic #long lost brother #eurydice #orpheus #fanfic #fanfiction

[lyrestrung-blog]

post-canon orpheus is VERY different from the orpheus we know. he’s no longer filled with optimism and light, in fact you could say that he’s completely given up and feels as if he has no purpose in life. he’s a shell of a man, and he looks it too. the light has gone from his eyes, and they’ve dulled in color a bit, going from a bright green to a kind of murky greenish-gray, and as well his face is very pale and gaunt and he looks so fragile and basically looks like all the life has been drained out of his face. he’s still very young but he looks a lot older than he is, because of the stress that was put on him. and he feels as dead as he looks. he’s not kind or sweet or open either, in fact he’s angry and vengeful, he’s irritable and bottles up everything inside of him, and when people (usually persephone or hermes) try to help him or get him to talk about his feelings, he lashes out at them. he’s never threatening or like, physically violent, but he gets into verbal screaming matches and says a lot of things he’ll probably regret later, out of impulsive anger, tho he isn’t really angry at them, and the only person he’s truly angry with is himself, but he bottles this up and takes it out on other people. 

he’s a ticking time bomb, a fuse waiting to be lit and you don’t want to get in his way. he drinks excessively, trying to forget it all but of course he can never really forget it. the once optimistic dreamer is now world-hardened and cynical, he believes nothing and trusts no one, doubts and mistrusts even his closest friends. he hates the way the world is and he’s given up trying to fix it. he has flashbacks and nightmares and all that shit, probably some kind of survivor’s guilt syndrome or even mild ptsd. his nightmares keep him up at night so he hardly ever sleeps, and you can see it in his eyes. he wakes up hoping that eurydice will be in bed beside him, but of course, she never is. he doesn’t sing anymore, he’s forgotten all the songs, except for a very faint memory of the la la la, but that’s it, that’s all he has. sometimes he sings that, desperately trying to remember the rest of the melody, remember the lyrics, remember anything about it, but it’s as good as gone. his voice cracks as he sings that little bit. he wishes he could sing again and he gets so mad at himself that he snaps his own lyre in two as a reminder of what he’s done.

 he’s a broken man, a shell of a person. physically alive, but not really living, more like existing in a body while his soul is utterly dead. he’s given up on everything he stands for, he’s just given up, he’s one step short of packing up his bags and selling his soul to hadestown forever when hermes reminds him that eurydice would want him to go on and live his life. she’d want him to be strong for her, so he does. he keeps going regardless of how miserable it makes him, and he can’t wait for the moment when he joins her in hadestown. he’s basically the opposite of orpheus tbh.

#i'll sing a song of a love gone wrong ---> out of character. #but brother who are they to say what the truth is anyway ---> ( analysis / character study. ) #oh no i'm not like that! ( headcanons. ) #meta.....sort of.....i guess #sorry that was really long #i just have a lot of thoughts and feelings #specifically about post canon orpheus #so you're getting this from me thanks