acequeenking (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
acequeenking) wrote2019-08-09 09:45 pm
acequeenking) wrote2019-08-09 09:45 pm
Entry tags:
Darkest Night Letter
Dear Darkest and Stormiest of Night Writers,
Thank you for writing or drawing for me! I am looking forward to seeing whatever you create!
I consider all prompts as optional, but I added some ideas below in case you might find them helpful. Some are longer than others, but all are things I would love to receive! If none of my prompts work for you or you’d rather just work with a likes list, please feel free to use my general likes as something you can base your fic/art on, and ignore my prompts entirely.
In fact, feel free to be creative and create what you want as long as it doesn’t cross my DNW. I love everything from G-rated gen fic to E-rated smut-bangs, so feel free to go where the spirit moves you. If you are wondering if you can twist prompts/take them in different directions/etc. the answer is always an enthusiastic yes. Whether it be something sad, scary, fun, or just plain weird, as long as it avoids my DNW I am always down to play.
As far as characters without defined attributes (mainly mythology and other novel sources): please feel free to go wild with how you want them to look. Any skin color? Amazing, I live for alternate cultural takes on my faves. Trans or otherwise gender non-conforming? Sure! Bring it on!I love when stories have multiple versions and different takes so please change things to your hearts desire: I am here for it. I love classical looks but I also live for the non-classical, too.
As far as dark fic, I love dark fic and as long as you don't cross my few DNWs, I am here for it. I especially love complicated relationships, when you love someone as much as you hate them, when it's not healthy, safe, sane, but is consensual, where the madness is felt and shared and suffered; I love to put my favs through hell and I hope you will enjoy doing the same!
Hades/Persephone (Hadestown): Oh boy, these two; Hades and Persephone seem balanced on a razorblade as to whether they’re staying together or splitting up during the entire show. I love how at teh end of How Long, the two basically come into harmony even mad-as-hell at one another; they're willing to stay together, but there's such tension there. Even at the end, even though they stick together, the ending is nebulous: with Orpheus' failure, do the Gods make it? I like to think they love one another always, even in their darkest moments, because its more interesting, I think, when love is so heavily mixed with the real dark emotions these two have: Hades, desperately anxious and drunk on a mix of despair and possession; Persephone, blotting out the pain with alcohol as much as she can and still feeling it anyway. The fact that they're Gods whose relationship has spanned literal hundreds of thousands of years (since dinosaurs according to one of the actors! DINOSAURS!) just gives them more and more time to know each other intimately - which is great, when it works out between them there is no higher form of love, but also means no one knows better all their fears and how to twist the knife the best.
Abandonment Issues: Hades Act 1 plot is basically Abandonment Issues: the Musical; he loves his wife madly, passionately, and yet: he doesn’t (can't?) stay with her when she is up top. What gave him this huge abandonment complex – is he uncomfortable with her in her element? Does he hate that he has to give up control below? Did she tell him not to come? Does he have bad family memories? Is he just plain afraid she’ll never come back to him? How does Persephone react to his possessiveness over her? Does she try to convince him to give up on bein' so posssessive, and if so, what's his reaction to that?
Angry Sex: There is no way these two haven't angry-boned. You can see it in how they move at one another in How Long? - even when they're pissed as hell, when they're at their lowest points, Hades and Persephone still wind up standing next to one another, reaching out to one another. I think a lot of Persephone's "complicit"-ness in terms of Hadestown is that she has aquiesed to her husbands demands on her time, on their realm — and even when she's mad as hell at him, she's still gonna bone him because she loves him, deep down. For his end of it, he knows he isn't going to see her often and he's blatantly mad about her - even changing his entire world in a misguided attempt to suit her, so he takes the chance when it comes along. Is their sex when tehy're angry hot as hell for either of them? Or is it a bit of a turn off, a way that they're making due even if neither of them is happy? Does the sex take on different forms when tehy're angry - eg more painful, more hairpulling, etc? Or is it still tender, yet leaving both of them unsatisfied due to their mood at the moment?
Drunk Sex: Given that Hades and Persephone start the play enjoying a drink together on their patio, and Persephone is shown very clearly struggling with a very real alcohol addiction. I would love to see what happens when the drink interferes with these two's ability to have sex, especially as concerns Persephone. Does Hades enjoy her drinking, or does he hate it? Does she need toe alcohol in order to have sex with him? Does he realize this? How does he deal with her drunkeness - is he a little buzzed himself, or is he sober? Is she easier to deal with when she's drunk? Does she resent that he has sex with her when she's drunk, or is she thankful that the drink makes it easier for them to connect?
Character A pretends they don't notice Character B's descent into madness: Persephone clearly knows that something isn't right with Hades: she goes with him when he does nothing but hold out his hand despite having loudly protested him coming not three minutes ago, she signs his stupid wall song despite so clearly not wanting to, she lets him hold her hand even during Chant, when she's so visibly pissed. She absolutley loves him and I think part of what I find fascinating about their relationship is that she loves him even when she shouldn't, when he is so clearly at his worst, at his most power-hungry and cruel and domineering: she turns a blind eye. She lets it pass. Even when it comes to Eurydice, when he is throwing Eurydice in her face, trying to make her upset, she — doesn't react. She lets him go, because she thinks it's what he wants. And that, I think, is what huts so much about her: because she does, to some horrible amount, sacrifice her desires for his, her wants for his wants. And if you want to pull in the Greek mythology source material, given the family history here - his father went mad, and his father's father before him — it may even be something she has expected on some level. How does Persephone turn a blind eye? Does she resent this? If so, does Hades pick up on that? Does she think he will ever be back to the man she once loved? Does the end of the play give her hope — or is it just a brief respite? How far would she go, to hold on to him? Does she have a point where she'd refuse to go along with his madness, or would she end the world by staying with him forever if he wanted her to?
Character is Disgruntled About Having to Perform Sex Act: Given how ancient these two are, I can see them both having a lot of ancient-world bullshit that doesn't go examined in their minds and being perhaps a bit thornier even in what should be the easiest thing in the world. Does Hades refuse to do anything that isn't plain old missionary, feeling like being not in power would make him "a lesser man"? If so, how does Pesephone deal with that - especially given how boring it must be to have sex in the same position for literal eternity. If these two are fighting, do they ever act disgruntled if the other tries to initiate for sex? How do they deal with someone being quite grumbly about it, even if they're willing to actually have sex? Does the sniping between them turn one another on, or is it a mood killer?
Resentment: I think both of these two definitively have a lot of resentment toward the other. Hades hates that she leaves him for half the year and she resents how domineering he can be when she's home. It's very clear communication is NOT their strong suit, so I would love to see these two actually dealing with that resentment. Does it mess up their perceptions of the other? Do they make others uncomfortable with their sniping? What sort of ways does their resentment for oen another leak out — and is there any way they can actually move past it? How do you stop hating someone you've hated a long time, even if you've loved them just as long (longer?) and just as passionately as you do now? How do they deal with their numerous, numerous issues? Is there any way they can move past it?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Hermes (Hadestown): I think there's a special kind of horror that comes with smooth Hermes, who so clearly knows more than the rest of the cast...because he's lived it all before. With Hermes, I'm really fascinated by the idea that suggets that Hermes has been living through this constant cycle with Hades, Persephone, Orpheus, Eurydice etc. for years and years and years and he keeps trying to change it, to make it different, to make the ending come out right after so many wrongs...and it keeps repeating in the exact same tune despite his efforts. I really would love to see thr trials and tribulations of this Hermes, who must fight like a tiger for every step he m akes, onyl to be slammed in the face by fate again and again and again. How does he deal with this? Are they ever successful in finding a way to naviate this pitfall? How does he keep his strength up even when things are going wrong again and again and again?
Seeing Events Repeat Over and Over Again but Being Unable to Change Them: Hermes keeps seeing the same pattern, over and over, with Hades and Seph, and then Orpheus and Eurydice. How does this happen? when does he realize he is trapped in a cage? Are there confines to the cage — can he escape being with Orpheus, with Eurydice? Does he try to go to different places, and if so, does the setting remain the same? Does he ever try to bend Hades, Seph, Orpheus, and Eurydice on different tracks (eg encouraging Orpheus/Eurydice to fall in love with someone else, trying to stop Hades from pursuing Persephone early, encouraging Persephone to break up with Hades, and so on)? Does fate always set them on this road? What sort of actions does Hermes take to try to change things? No matter what he does, Hermes is doomed to see the past repeat itself, again and again and again? If so, how does he live with that knowledge - especially given that as a God, suicide/death doesn't really seemto be an option?
Time Loop - No One But Character Knows They're Stuck: How does Hermes deal with beeing in the time loop? If he's made peace with the fact that the loop is inescapable, how does he grin and bear seeing people go through the same heartbreaking tragedy, again and again and again? Does he ever try to convince the other gods just what is going on, and do they believe him? Does he ever tell Eurydice and Orpheus, or try to take them away so they won't get hit by Hades and Persephone's storm? Do things change at all (eg is Eurydice sometimes really bit by a snake? Is it Orpheus who is ever lured down? Are Persephone and Hades ever on better terms or worse? Does the attempt to reunite both couples ever fail on both accounts, not just Eurydice and Orpheus?
Time Loop Deleting Characters/Events Each Cycle: I would love to see a Russian Doll-esque take on Hadestown, where characters and events are slowly changed as the time loop goes further and further degraded. What happens? How do they break it — or do they not break it? Is there a point where HErmes is the last person standing? When an event changes, what happens? And if hte reset point is Orpheus turning around, then how does Hermes deal with being the only person who remembers in a land where time is constantly reset? Are there major personality adjustments when characters are "deleted" - if Persephone is gone, is Hades radically different, or vice versa? What about an Orpheus or a Eurydice who never met the other?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Group: Eurydice/Hades/Persephone (Hadestown): I have a real soft spot for Eurydice/Hades/Persephone; I htink these three have SUCH a potential to be a total nightmare together, and I love it. Maybe Hades makes the decision to bring her in as a gift to his wife, since he knows she’s soft on the girl? Like all things in their marriage, this is not a great decision as far as improving their relationship with one another, since they’re both rather worried that the other will find someone else — but Eurydice is pretty and Persephone does want to look out for her in the underworld, and figures better to share her husband with this girl than have him fuck her on his own time; Hades would find it easier that, if Persephone has to be shared with someone, it’s a mortal and a woman who can’t give her what he can (and who he can kill/get rid of if Persephone gets a little too fond); as for Eurydice, she might find them attractive but mostly I think would be into it for the security — what safer place can be found than sleeping with the boss and his wife? I would love the smutty side of it, but mostly smutty or not, what I really want for this trio is the kind of the horribly complicated side of how on earth these three would deal with the issues of not just Orpheus, but their own potential pitfalls: How do Hades and Eurydice navigate the times Persephone isn’t there — does Eurydice go with Persephone, or does she stay and if she stays, do she and Hades have the same relationship without the third around? Do Hades and Persephone only keep Eurydice as a partner for sex, and focus more on their marriage for emotional intimacy, or do they make her a semi-equal partner? Does Eurydice miss Orpheus and how does she cope with it? How does she handle being the only non-god in this sandwich — are there parts of their sexual lives or decisions they make that Eurydice just can’t even fathom? Does she resent being treated as a lesser being? Does she feel guilty for choosing the security of these two over the true love she had with Orpheus?
Resentment: I would love to see something dealing with the resentment that the tenuousness of this situation would bring. Does Persephone resent Hades and Eurydice being a couple n the underworld without her (if they do)? Is she jealous of sharing her husband with a mere human? Does Hades resent that Eurydice gets to follow his wife (if she does) to the world above, or just that she can touch Persephone in ways that he, perhaps, cannot? Does Eurydice resent these petty gods taking their marriage spats out on her, or seducing her to help solve them, treating her as littel better than a puzzle piece? Do any of them resent Orpheus for failing as he did, or is at least one of them glad that things have worked out the way they did?
Betrayed By Lover: I would love to see any of these three dealing with betrayal and trying to move past it. I can see Persephone taking the whole "Step into my office" thing as a massive betrayal, and Hades declaring this girl is their mistress, not just his, even worse. Does she try to make the most of this sudden threesome? Does Hades think Persephone's love for this girl is a sign of how much she prefers the upper world, and how does he deal with this? Does he take his fury out on Eurydice (sexually or otherwise)? Does Eurydice resent both of them using her as a sex toy and little better, or is her resentment for being betrayed reserved for Orpheus, who told her to believe in a better world but sent her to her death out of fecklessness?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Group: Hades/Persephone (Greek Myth) Persephone and Hades in Greek myth mostly have a really clear power dynamic in the original tale: Hades is in power, Persephone isn’t. While more modern retellings offer all sort of True Love stories (and I love them, truly) where things between them are just a bit more equal (no age gap or less of one!), less incesty (not really her uncle on both sides!) or just plain less yucky (that whole kidnapping thing, potentially tricking her into being into his bride thing) - and while I support all of those, in this one I'd love to see something that focuses on this poor young woman, who winds up in a totally alien world, kidnapped by her uncle and told she'll be a queen - his queen, mind. I don't think Hades is inherently evil - by the standards of the time this story was written down, he isn't even doing anything wrong - and a lot of stories that do embrace some of the darker aspects of this story, do so with Super Evil Leather Pants Draco Hades, who is very much a dominant, super evil but charming rapist...and I think its more interesting if Hades is as he is in classical stories: very stern, a bit gloomy, and desperately, desperately lonely. How does Persephone handle being forced to hang around with her uncle, who is so desperate for her to stay? Does he do anything to try to trick her into liking being there? Does she realize ways that she can change this to her advantage?
Deliberately Induced Stockholm Syndrome: Hades is so desperate to prove her love, he'll trick her into it if he has to. How does he do this? Does he wind up feeling happy when/if it works? How does their relationship progress? Does he ever feel guilty about basically manipulating her into loving him? Is it a surface-level manipulation, or is there far more to it? Does this cause them problems down the line, and is there any way that Hades can fix it? Or does this wear off, leaving him resented by a bride he'd give anything to love?
Failure To Consider The Consequences Of Your Actions Until It's Too Late: Persephone eats the pomogranate seeds and in doing so dooms herself to death's embrace for eternity. Did she mean it as a binding marriage act? If not, how does she deal with having been basically been manipulated into loving him forever? Do they manage to work things out until they're on an equal level? Or does she, having been so tricked, have leverage over him for eternity? How do her family and friends react to her new marriage, with her strange husband who lives underground and only shows up twice every six months to take her? How do tehy make such an usual arangement work?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Cronus/Rhea (Greek Myth): Oh man, this is such a tragic pairing. Abused together as children, successfully lead a revolt against their abusers that put them on top...and then Cronus slowly loses his mind, becoming power hungry and paranoid (probably not exactly pleasant to live with), and then he crosses the final line and winds up devouring their chidlren, one after another after another. How does Rhea struggle to live with that? Does she stay with him for a long time (five kids!) in order to try to bring him back to her, and is there any signs it might work before he inevitably turns away again? How does she justify their relationship to those children? How does she handle him being in Tartarus after? (Or, by some versions, the isle of the blessed?)
Character A pretends they don't notice Character B's descent into madness: I can see her turning a blind eye to his descent into madness, excusing it in so many ways because after going through so much together, the thought that he could go somewhere she couldn't follow has to feel like such a bitter pill. What is the point where she realizes he isn't going to change? Does she ever backslide and wind up turning back to him? Does she ever feel responsible in some way?
Lover on Opposite Side of War: Post-Zeus, how does Rhea handle her relationship with her husband? She is on teh other side with her children, and while she's clearly made her decision, I can't help but wonder if she might ever miss him or want to be with him, despite it all. Does this cause tension with her children? Does she ever go to see him? Does he ever go to her? After the war, are they still "together" in some way, even if physically torn apart?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Saren Arterius (Mass Effect Trilogy) Oooph, Saren is such a great character for body horror. I've always been fascinated by him, and I think the Mass Effect series never had a better villian than this guy. The cold horror as the player realizes that Saren is not just some racist asshole, but rather a terrorist who has had his own mind taken over by the Reapers, who is so fully indoctrinated he's injecting syntehtic compounds into his body in multiple places — oof, my heart. There's so much horror to the thought of losing you rmind little by little, and it's made worse in Saren's case as we know from the lab that he build researching indoctrination that he recognized what happened to him. He's such a complicated character for someone who is meant to be unsympathetic - he is, in his own way, trying to save the universe, but the way he goes across it is totally unrecognizable as reality; what happens to him is horrifying — and compelling.
Descent into Madness: I would love to see some idea of how Saren slowly comes to realize that he himself is being indoctrinated by the Reapers. What might make him aware of this fact? Does he try to fight it at all, or embrace it? How does he become aware of it? Does he recognize that he has seen this before and want to avoid seeing it again? If he isn't aware of it, what does he think is happening? What sort of symptoms might indoctrination have? What does indoctrination feel like?
Permanent Mind Control of Aware Victim: I would love to see how Saren would handle it if Sovereign entirely replaces Saren's will with his own; I think to some extent Saren is arguably under this severe a thrall at the end of Mass Effect - how does someone who pledged to protect the galaxy experience a coup that he launches in order to take over the government he once pledged to protect? How does he handle the knowledge that he shot his student and close friend, Nihlus? Does he envy Shepard's refusal to be indoctrinated, or does he recognize that it's only a matter of time, from his perspective, until he/she is also under the gun?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Thank you for writing or drawing for me! I am looking forward to seeing whatever you create!
I consider all prompts as optional, but I added some ideas below in case you might find them helpful. Some are longer than others, but all are things I would love to receive! If none of my prompts work for you or you’d rather just work with a likes list, please feel free to use my general likes as something you can base your fic/art on, and ignore my prompts entirely.
In fact, feel free to be creative and create what you want as long as it doesn’t cross my DNW. I love everything from G-rated gen fic to E-rated smut-bangs, so feel free to go where the spirit moves you. If you are wondering if you can twist prompts/take them in different directions/etc. the answer is always an enthusiastic yes. Whether it be something sad, scary, fun, or just plain weird, as long as it avoids my DNW I am always down to play.
As far as characters without defined attributes (mainly mythology and other novel sources): please feel free to go wild with how you want them to look. Any skin color? Amazing, I live for alternate cultural takes on my faves. Trans or otherwise gender non-conforming? Sure! Bring it on!I love when stories have multiple versions and different takes so please change things to your hearts desire: I am here for it. I love classical looks but I also live for the non-classical, too.
As far as dark fic, I love dark fic and as long as you don't cross my few DNWs, I am here for it. I especially love complicated relationships, when you love someone as much as you hate them, when it's not healthy, safe, sane, but is consensual, where the madness is felt and shared and suffered; I love to put my favs through hell and I hope you will enjoy doing the same!
- 5 Times/Five Things
- Canon-Divergent AUs e.g. "What if Character A went left instead of right?"
- Darkfic, including bad-guys-win and character death
- Epistolary/Found Documents Fic
- In-World (fiction or nonfiction) articles/stories
- First time(s)/ Last Time(s)
- Hurt/ Comfort
- Metafiction/ Interactive Fiction
- Past Third, Present Third, Second or First Person Perspective(s)
- Third Person Narration/ "Different Points of View" (e.g. Char A observes Char B & Char C)
- Arranged Marriage
- Bad guys win / Villian Victorious
- Body horror
- Came Back Wrong/resurrection tropes
- Changing Sides
- Characters who say "I love you" in their actions without actually saying/being able to say "I Love you" in their words
- Complicated Relationships
- Conflicted Loyalties
- Desperate kisses and embraces
- Domestic scenes
- Doomed relationships
- Dystopias
- Eldrich/Eerie things
- Experienced/Inexperienced partnerships
- Fake Marriage/dating
- Fluff/moments of happiness
- Forbidden/Star-Crossed Relationships
- Gender fluidity/experimentation
- Generational Divide/complications in may/december relationships
- Ghosts or other spooky/supernatural occurrences
- Gods being inhuman/unusual
- Grey Morality
- Hurt/Comfort in pretty much any form
- Irreconcilable differences leading to conflict between lovers (but not an absense of love)
- Jealousy
- Lovers caught on opposite sides of a conflict
- Loyalty Kink
- Lust/UST/Pining
- Mindfuckery - the more twisted the better
- Mission/Case fic
- Misunderstandings
- Myths/legends/cultural traditions
- Non-Canon exploration of Character's Gender
- Non-Penatrative sex
- Non-verbal communication and quiet intimacy
- Outsider POV
- Penatrative Sex
- Phyrric victories
- Physical recovery from injury
- Playing with danger, eg a character being able to hurt another but not doing so (despite them both knowing they could);I also love this being subverted (e.g. known bad-ass A has to be rescued by not-so-badass B)
- Politics
- Possessiveness
- Power differences
- Powerplay
- Pregnancy, including alien/unusual pregnancy
- Protectiveness
- Redemption being complicated and not easy
- Rule 63/Genderswapping from M to F for one or more requested characters
- Relationships bringing out the worst in one another
- Shows of trust and intimacy
- Snippets of long-term relationships at different points in the relationship
- Trapped in a snowstorm/eathquake/etc
- Trust kink
- Unhappy and/or complicated endings
- Unhealthy Relationships and/or Codependency
- Unreliable narrator
- World-building
- Aftercare
- Anal sex
- Bathing
- Body worship
- BDSM
- Blowjob(s)
- Breathplay/Chokeplay
- Cunnilingus
- Dubcon
- First Time/Losing Virginity
- fail!sex or humorous sex
- Fem-Dom
- M!Dom
- Pegging
- Porn with plot/porn as a character exploration
- PiV sex
- Pregnancy/Impregnation kink
- Quickies/Sex in Public Places/Situations
- Ritual(istic) Sex
- Rough sex
- Sex Pollen
- Sex on tables/desks/chairs/other furniture
- Switching/Reversal of top/bottom dynamic
- Shows of total trust
- Size kink
- Slow and tender sex
- Tending to another's scars/cuts/etc
- Voyeurism
- xeno or other kinds of "unusual" sexual organs (I am up for anything here:tentacles, burrs, cloaca, whatever)
- Atmospheric glimpses of a scene
- Costume Redesigns (especially for characters who are clotheshorses)
- Cuddles, kisses, and other displays of affection
- Family/couples/friends portraits or snapshots
- Limited pallets (black and white, two toned, etc)
- Unusual viewpoints (e.g. not seeing someone head-on/three-quarters)
- Views that tell a story by what they hide as much as what they reveal - eg, a smut scene illustrated by two characters' hands and nothing else)
Likes:
+Genre/Narrative Likes:
+ Favorite Kinks and Tropes:
+ Smut-Specific Likes:
+ Art-Specific Likes:
+ Do Not Want:
- A/B/O
- Aged-Up/Aged-Down characters (setting stories in the future/past is fine, just please don't make A magically the same age as/closer in age to B)
- Extremely Underage Characters in Sexual Situations
- High School/College/Coffee Shop/Mundane AU
- Non-Con (Dub-con, even Extreme Dubcon is fine, I just want some sense of consent!)
- Scat/Urine/Vomitplay
Prompts:
Prompts:
Hadestown - Mitchell
Hades/Persephone (Hadestown): Oh boy, these two; Hades and Persephone seem balanced on a razorblade as to whether they’re staying together or splitting up during the entire show. I love how at teh end of How Long, the two basically come into harmony even mad-as-hell at one another; they're willing to stay together, but there's such tension there. Even at the end, even though they stick together, the ending is nebulous: with Orpheus' failure, do the Gods make it? I like to think they love one another always, even in their darkest moments, because its more interesting, I think, when love is so heavily mixed with the real dark emotions these two have: Hades, desperately anxious and drunk on a mix of despair and possession; Persephone, blotting out the pain with alcohol as much as she can and still feeling it anyway. The fact that they're Gods whose relationship has spanned literal hundreds of thousands of years (since dinosaurs according to one of the actors! DINOSAURS!) just gives them more and more time to know each other intimately - which is great, when it works out between them there is no higher form of love, but also means no one knows better all their fears and how to twist the knife the best.
Abandonment Issues: Hades Act 1 plot is basically Abandonment Issues: the Musical; he loves his wife madly, passionately, and yet: he doesn’t (can't?) stay with her when she is up top. What gave him this huge abandonment complex – is he uncomfortable with her in her element? Does he hate that he has to give up control below? Did she tell him not to come? Does he have bad family memories? Is he just plain afraid she’ll never come back to him? How does Persephone react to his possessiveness over her? Does she try to convince him to give up on bein' so posssessive, and if so, what's his reaction to that?
Angry Sex: There is no way these two haven't angry-boned. You can see it in how they move at one another in How Long? - even when they're pissed as hell, when they're at their lowest points, Hades and Persephone still wind up standing next to one another, reaching out to one another. I think a lot of Persephone's "complicit"-ness in terms of Hadestown is that she has aquiesed to her husbands demands on her time, on their realm — and even when she's mad as hell at him, she's still gonna bone him because she loves him, deep down. For his end of it, he knows he isn't going to see her often and he's blatantly mad about her - even changing his entire world in a misguided attempt to suit her, so he takes the chance when it comes along. Is their sex when tehy're angry hot as hell for either of them? Or is it a bit of a turn off, a way that they're making due even if neither of them is happy? Does the sex take on different forms when tehy're angry - eg more painful, more hairpulling, etc? Or is it still tender, yet leaving both of them unsatisfied due to their mood at the moment?
Drunk Sex: Given that Hades and Persephone start the play enjoying a drink together on their patio, and Persephone is shown very clearly struggling with a very real alcohol addiction. I would love to see what happens when the drink interferes with these two's ability to have sex, especially as concerns Persephone. Does Hades enjoy her drinking, or does he hate it? Does she need toe alcohol in order to have sex with him? Does he realize this? How does he deal with her drunkeness - is he a little buzzed himself, or is he sober? Is she easier to deal with when she's drunk? Does she resent that he has sex with her when she's drunk, or is she thankful that the drink makes it easier for them to connect?
Character A pretends they don't notice Character B's descent into madness: Persephone clearly knows that something isn't right with Hades: she goes with him when he does nothing but hold out his hand despite having loudly protested him coming not three minutes ago, she signs his stupid wall song despite so clearly not wanting to, she lets him hold her hand even during Chant, when she's so visibly pissed. She absolutley loves him and I think part of what I find fascinating about their relationship is that she loves him even when she shouldn't, when he is so clearly at his worst, at his most power-hungry and cruel and domineering: she turns a blind eye. She lets it pass. Even when it comes to Eurydice, when he is throwing Eurydice in her face, trying to make her upset, she — doesn't react. She lets him go, because she thinks it's what he wants. And that, I think, is what huts so much about her: because she does, to some horrible amount, sacrifice her desires for his, her wants for his wants. And if you want to pull in the Greek mythology source material, given the family history here - his father went mad, and his father's father before him — it may even be something she has expected on some level. How does Persephone turn a blind eye? Does she resent this? If so, does Hades pick up on that? Does she think he will ever be back to the man she once loved? Does the end of the play give her hope — or is it just a brief respite? How far would she go, to hold on to him? Does she have a point where she'd refuse to go along with his madness, or would she end the world by staying with him forever if he wanted her to?
Character is Disgruntled About Having to Perform Sex Act: Given how ancient these two are, I can see them both having a lot of ancient-world bullshit that doesn't go examined in their minds and being perhaps a bit thornier even in what should be the easiest thing in the world. Does Hades refuse to do anything that isn't plain old missionary, feeling like being not in power would make him "a lesser man"? If so, how does Pesephone deal with that - especially given how boring it must be to have sex in the same position for literal eternity. If these two are fighting, do they ever act disgruntled if the other tries to initiate for sex? How do they deal with someone being quite grumbly about it, even if they're willing to actually have sex? Does the sniping between them turn one another on, or is it a mood killer?
Resentment: I think both of these two definitively have a lot of resentment toward the other. Hades hates that she leaves him for half the year and she resents how domineering he can be when she's home. It's very clear communication is NOT their strong suit, so I would love to see these two actually dealing with that resentment. Does it mess up their perceptions of the other? Do they make others uncomfortable with their sniping? What sort of ways does their resentment for oen another leak out — and is there any way they can actually move past it? How do you stop hating someone you've hated a long time, even if you've loved them just as long (longer?) and just as passionately as you do now? How do they deal with their numerous, numerous issues? Is there any way they can move past it?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Hermes (Hadestown): I think there's a special kind of horror that comes with smooth Hermes, who so clearly knows more than the rest of the cast...because he's lived it all before. With Hermes, I'm really fascinated by the idea that suggets that Hermes has been living through this constant cycle with Hades, Persephone, Orpheus, Eurydice etc. for years and years and years and he keeps trying to change it, to make it different, to make the ending come out right after so many wrongs...and it keeps repeating in the exact same tune despite his efforts. I really would love to see thr trials and tribulations of this Hermes, who must fight like a tiger for every step he m akes, onyl to be slammed in the face by fate again and again and again. How does he deal with this? Are they ever successful in finding a way to naviate this pitfall? How does he keep his strength up even when things are going wrong again and again and again?
Seeing Events Repeat Over and Over Again but Being Unable to Change Them: Hermes keeps seeing the same pattern, over and over, with Hades and Seph, and then Orpheus and Eurydice. How does this happen? when does he realize he is trapped in a cage? Are there confines to the cage — can he escape being with Orpheus, with Eurydice? Does he try to go to different places, and if so, does the setting remain the same? Does he ever try to bend Hades, Seph, Orpheus, and Eurydice on different tracks (eg encouraging Orpheus/Eurydice to fall in love with someone else, trying to stop Hades from pursuing Persephone early, encouraging Persephone to break up with Hades, and so on)? Does fate always set them on this road? What sort of actions does Hermes take to try to change things? No matter what he does, Hermes is doomed to see the past repeat itself, again and again and again? If so, how does he live with that knowledge - especially given that as a God, suicide/death doesn't really seemto be an option?
Time Loop - No One But Character Knows They're Stuck: How does Hermes deal with beeing in the time loop? If he's made peace with the fact that the loop is inescapable, how does he grin and bear seeing people go through the same heartbreaking tragedy, again and again and again? Does he ever try to convince the other gods just what is going on, and do they believe him? Does he ever tell Eurydice and Orpheus, or try to take them away so they won't get hit by Hades and Persephone's storm? Do things change at all (eg is Eurydice sometimes really bit by a snake? Is it Orpheus who is ever lured down? Are Persephone and Hades ever on better terms or worse? Does the attempt to reunite both couples ever fail on both accounts, not just Eurydice and Orpheus?
Time Loop Deleting Characters/Events Each Cycle: I would love to see a Russian Doll-esque take on Hadestown, where characters and events are slowly changed as the time loop goes further and further degraded. What happens? How do they break it — or do they not break it? Is there a point where HErmes is the last person standing? When an event changes, what happens? And if hte reset point is Orpheus turning around, then how does Hermes deal with being the only person who remembers in a land where time is constantly reset? Are there major personality adjustments when characters are "deleted" - if Persephone is gone, is Hades radically different, or vice versa? What about an Orpheus or a Eurydice who never met the other?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Group: Eurydice/Hades/Persephone (Hadestown): I have a real soft spot for Eurydice/Hades/Persephone; I htink these three have SUCH a potential to be a total nightmare together, and I love it. Maybe Hades makes the decision to bring her in as a gift to his wife, since he knows she’s soft on the girl? Like all things in their marriage, this is not a great decision as far as improving their relationship with one another, since they’re both rather worried that the other will find someone else — but Eurydice is pretty and Persephone does want to look out for her in the underworld, and figures better to share her husband with this girl than have him fuck her on his own time; Hades would find it easier that, if Persephone has to be shared with someone, it’s a mortal and a woman who can’t give her what he can (and who he can kill/get rid of if Persephone gets a little too fond); as for Eurydice, she might find them attractive but mostly I think would be into it for the security — what safer place can be found than sleeping with the boss and his wife? I would love the smutty side of it, but mostly smutty or not, what I really want for this trio is the kind of the horribly complicated side of how on earth these three would deal with the issues of not just Orpheus, but their own potential pitfalls: How do Hades and Eurydice navigate the times Persephone isn’t there — does Eurydice go with Persephone, or does she stay and if she stays, do she and Hades have the same relationship without the third around? Do Hades and Persephone only keep Eurydice as a partner for sex, and focus more on their marriage for emotional intimacy, or do they make her a semi-equal partner? Does Eurydice miss Orpheus and how does she cope with it? How does she handle being the only non-god in this sandwich — are there parts of their sexual lives or decisions they make that Eurydice just can’t even fathom? Does she resent being treated as a lesser being? Does she feel guilty for choosing the security of these two over the true love she had with Orpheus?
Resentment: I would love to see something dealing with the resentment that the tenuousness of this situation would bring. Does Persephone resent Hades and Eurydice being a couple n the underworld without her (if they do)? Is she jealous of sharing her husband with a mere human? Does Hades resent that Eurydice gets to follow his wife (if she does) to the world above, or just that she can touch Persephone in ways that he, perhaps, cannot? Does Eurydice resent these petty gods taking their marriage spats out on her, or seducing her to help solve them, treating her as littel better than a puzzle piece? Do any of them resent Orpheus for failing as he did, or is at least one of them glad that things have worked out the way they did?
Betrayed By Lover: I would love to see any of these three dealing with betrayal and trying to move past it. I can see Persephone taking the whole "Step into my office" thing as a massive betrayal, and Hades declaring this girl is their mistress, not just his, even worse. Does she try to make the most of this sudden threesome? Does Hades think Persephone's love for this girl is a sign of how much she prefers the upper world, and how does he deal with this? Does he take his fury out on Eurydice (sexually or otherwise)? Does Eurydice resent both of them using her as a sex toy and little better, or is her resentment for being betrayed reserved for Orpheus, who told her to believe in a better world but sent her to her death out of fecklessness?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Group: Hades/Persephone (Greek Myth) Persephone and Hades in Greek myth mostly have a really clear power dynamic in the original tale: Hades is in power, Persephone isn’t. While more modern retellings offer all sort of True Love stories (and I love them, truly) where things between them are just a bit more equal (no age gap or less of one!), less incesty (not really her uncle on both sides!) or just plain less yucky (that whole kidnapping thing, potentially tricking her into being into his bride thing) - and while I support all of those, in this one I'd love to see something that focuses on this poor young woman, who winds up in a totally alien world, kidnapped by her uncle and told she'll be a queen - his queen, mind. I don't think Hades is inherently evil - by the standards of the time this story was written down, he isn't even doing anything wrong - and a lot of stories that do embrace some of the darker aspects of this story, do so with Super Evil Leather Pants Draco Hades, who is very much a dominant, super evil but charming rapist...and I think its more interesting if Hades is as he is in classical stories: very stern, a bit gloomy, and desperately, desperately lonely. How does Persephone handle being forced to hang around with her uncle, who is so desperate for her to stay? Does he do anything to try to trick her into liking being there? Does she realize ways that she can change this to her advantage?
Deliberately Induced Stockholm Syndrome: Hades is so desperate to prove her love, he'll trick her into it if he has to. How does he do this? Does he wind up feeling happy when/if it works? How does their relationship progress? Does he ever feel guilty about basically manipulating her into loving him? Is it a surface-level manipulation, or is there far more to it? Does this cause them problems down the line, and is there any way that Hades can fix it? Or does this wear off, leaving him resented by a bride he'd give anything to love?
Failure To Consider The Consequences Of Your Actions Until It's Too Late: Persephone eats the pomogranate seeds and in doing so dooms herself to death's embrace for eternity. Did she mean it as a binding marriage act? If not, how does she deal with having been basically been manipulated into loving him forever? Do they manage to work things out until they're on an equal level? Or does she, having been so tricked, have leverage over him for eternity? How do her family and friends react to her new marriage, with her strange husband who lives underground and only shows up twice every six months to take her? How do tehy make such an usual arangement work?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Cronus/Rhea (Greek Myth): Oh man, this is such a tragic pairing. Abused together as children, successfully lead a revolt against their abusers that put them on top...and then Cronus slowly loses his mind, becoming power hungry and paranoid (probably not exactly pleasant to live with), and then he crosses the final line and winds up devouring their chidlren, one after another after another. How does Rhea struggle to live with that? Does she stay with him for a long time (five kids!) in order to try to bring him back to her, and is there any signs it might work before he inevitably turns away again? How does she justify their relationship to those children? How does she handle him being in Tartarus after? (Or, by some versions, the isle of the blessed?)
Character A pretends they don't notice Character B's descent into madness: I can see her turning a blind eye to his descent into madness, excusing it in so many ways because after going through so much together, the thought that he could go somewhere she couldn't follow has to feel like such a bitter pill. What is the point where she realizes he isn't going to change? Does she ever backslide and wind up turning back to him? Does she ever feel responsible in some way?
Lover on Opposite Side of War: Post-Zeus, how does Rhea handle her relationship with her husband? She is on teh other side with her children, and while she's clearly made her decision, I can't help but wonder if she might ever miss him or want to be with him, despite it all. Does this cause tension with her children? Does she ever go to see him? Does he ever go to her? After the war, are they still "together" in some way, even if physically torn apart?
[Return to Top of Letter]
Mass Effect Trilogy
Saren Arterius (Mass Effect Trilogy) Oooph, Saren is such a great character for body horror. I've always been fascinated by him, and I think the Mass Effect series never had a better villian than this guy. The cold horror as the player realizes that Saren is not just some racist asshole, but rather a terrorist who has had his own mind taken over by the Reapers, who is so fully indoctrinated he's injecting syntehtic compounds into his body in multiple places — oof, my heart. There's so much horror to the thought of losing you rmind little by little, and it's made worse in Saren's case as we know from the lab that he build researching indoctrination that he recognized what happened to him. He's such a complicated character for someone who is meant to be unsympathetic - he is, in his own way, trying to save the universe, but the way he goes across it is totally unrecognizable as reality; what happens to him is horrifying — and compelling.
Descent into Madness: I would love to see some idea of how Saren slowly comes to realize that he himself is being indoctrinated by the Reapers. What might make him aware of this fact? Does he try to fight it at all, or embrace it? How does he become aware of it? Does he recognize that he has seen this before and want to avoid seeing it again? If he isn't aware of it, what does he think is happening? What sort of symptoms might indoctrination have? What does indoctrination feel like?
Permanent Mind Control of Aware Victim: I would love to see how Saren would handle it if Sovereign entirely replaces Saren's will with his own; I think to some extent Saren is arguably under this severe a thrall at the end of Mass Effect - how does someone who pledged to protect the galaxy experience a coup that he launches in order to take over the government he once pledged to protect? How does he handle the knowledge that he shot his student and close friend, Nihlus? Does he envy Shepard's refusal to be indoctrinated, or does he recognize that it's only a matter of time, from his perspective, until he/she is also under the gun?
[Return to Top of Letter]