focusfixated:
all the men and women merely players
rating: T // fandom: ted lasso // pairings: ted x trent, keeley x roy x jamie, nate x jade // length: 50.7k
author: @laiqualaurelote
tags: theatre, shakespeare, post-apocalypse
“So let me get this straight. You, an American whose career highlights consisted mainly of appearing on Saturday Night Live, decide in the wake of the apocalypse to lead a touring Shakespeare company across the ruins of England.”
“Oh, I know. Heck, I said as much to Rebecca when she suggested it. I said, ‘You could fill two Internets with what I don’t know about directing Shakespeare.’ And she said, 'Ted, the Internet doesn’t exist any more.’”
Trent Crimm meets Ted Lasso by chance at a Shakespeare play. Five years and the end of the world later, they meet again at another. A Station Eleven post-apocalyptic theatre AU (no knowledge of Station Eleven necessary to read).
rec notes:
a post-apocalyptic ted lasso AU where the richmond players are a troupe of travelling shakespearean actors.
simply one of the best things i’ve read in a long time. it SO perfectly operates within its genre, one of those beautiful pieces of cross-referential AU fanfic, where there is both a deeply thoughtful blending of references, a wonderfully precise understanding of the characters from the original media, and highly-detailed worldbuilding of its own.
the author nails every character’s cadence, the variety of voices, their styles of conversation. the descriptive narrative, is also excellent. achingly poetic, there is so much beauty, and so much compelling, grim horror, too. the happy moments are threaded with plenty of intense, sharply sad moments, but there is so much joy, such hope. it’s an ode to art, and friendship, and community.
i had such an amazing time reading this story. it’s such a brilliant idea, and its execution lives up to the concept. the amount of detail, research, reference, is evident in every chapter. and it’s a wonderful tribute to the show, while also giving such a satisfying conclusion to so many story arcs that were left a little underserved in the series finale.