hockeybigbang art for altri_uccelli's Prise de Fer

2012-12-29T18:38:07Z

Title: Prise de Fer
Author: altri_uccelli
Artist: littlestclouds/benched
Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Pairing: Jonathan Toews/Patrick Kane
Rating: R
Word count: 32,500
Warnings/spoilers: none
Summary: A Regency AU. Jonathan Toews, captain of a regiment of sharpshooters in the Napoleonic Wars, suffers a head injury in battle that ends his career. Back in England recovering, he realizes that, as the heir to the family estate, he must wed. At a ball, Jonathan meets Jacqueline Kane—and her brother, Patrick. Parties, fencing, secrets and misunderstandings ensue.

I was lucky enough to snag altri_uccelli's fic, Prise de Fer, a Jonathan Toews/Patrick Kane Regency AU. The fic is magnificent, and altri_uccelli was great to work with. Go check it out!

altri_uccelli's fic masterpost
Prise de Fer [AO3]

So, I wanted to do a mix of period(ish) classical, instrumental, and contemporary pop for the mix. I originally set out to just use period music, actually, but kept straying into pop and instrumental (post-rock and contemporary classical) because I had these other songs that set the mood I wanted to create a bit better than just the classical.

I started the mix off with Metamorphosis One by Philip Glass because it felt kind of like a “Jonny” song to me. If this was a movie, it would probably be Jonny’s theme. It also kind of represents Jonny in the beginning of the piece, to me. Still very much a soldier.

The next song I included was “Until I Am Whole,” by the Mountain Goats, one of my favorite groups ever. The chorus struck me as I was looking for songs to include: I think I’ll stay here / ‘Til I feel whole again / I don’t know when.

“First Breath After Coma,” by Explosions in the Sky is one of my favorite songs ever from one of my favorite bands ever, and as the song implies, and considering I imagined this as a movie soundtrack almost, I imagined the song playing low in the background of the scene where Jonny meets Jacqueline and then Patrick. It always struck me as a musical representation of someone waking from a coma, and I kind of tied that in with the idea of Jonny “waking up” when he meets Patrick.

“A Dark Cloud Is Forever Lifted” and “You Can’t Have My Heart” were meant to be played during the scenes where Jonny and Patrick begin to struggle and cope with their feelings for each other, and when Jonny tells Patrick he is going to marry Jacqueline. “A Dark Cloud Is Forever Lifted” feels almost... revelatory to me. I imagined this one being played when Jonny and Patrick kiss. But before Patrick runs out on him. :(

The bulk of the pop songs come at the end of the mix. Cee-Lo Green’s “What Part Of Forever” made me think of Jonny, in the aftermath, after Patrick leaves. Particularly this bit: Imagine eternity, it doesn't seem that hard / They say nothing lasts forever / We'll have to prove them wrong.

Andrew Belle’s “In My Veins” came to mind because of this line: Everything will change / Nothing stays the same. It made me think of the scene near the end, when Patrick says nothing has changed, and Jonny grabs him and says “Everything’s changed[.]” It just seemed like such an incredibly important moment, even if Patrick was in denial at that point.

“Wherever I Will Go” was included for the scene when they’re in bed and Patrick says “Wherever you are, that’s my home.” So, that’s the first Patrick song of the mix! I guess it’s logical that a mix for a fic where Jonny is the POV character would be from his POV, but I couldn’t help but include the Patrick song. I love it, and it felt right for the moment.

“Us” by Regina Spektor is kind of the Jonny song for that particular scene then. They’ll name a city after us sounds like the exultation of someone in love wanting the world to know how in love and happy he is, and it fit with the Patrick song, to me.

The next few songs are instrumental mood-setting songs, I guess. They feel triumphant to me, particularly the song I chose to close the mix with. I went with “The World Is Our _____,” because the title is obvious a reference to the saying, “the world is our oyster,” and the song itself feels like Jonny’s and Patrick’s “victory” song to me. They’ve conquered the obstacles keeping them apart. And when Jonny and Patrick take on the world together, this is the song that’ll be playing in my mind over that scene.

One funny thing I noticed: I ended up removing all but two of the period classical pieces. The remaining classical and instrumental music is from film scores or it’s contemporary classical. Huh.

As for the art, I did a bit of research and one interesting note I found is that full, curly hair was very desirable during the time period in which the fic occurs, so I imagined Jonny with longer, wavier hair than maybe we’re used to in person. Sideburns were also in vogue! And, as we all know, Jonny can do sideburns.

The thing I’m happiest about, actually, is his foofy Disney hair and muttonchop sideburns. :P

Listen to the mix here!

Everything Is Just Fine | fic mix

2012-06-18T18:53:22Z

Now you’re knocking at my door
Saying, “please come out with us tonight,”
But I would rather be alone
Than pretend I feel alright

— “Ready to Start,” Arcade Fire

I am so much older than I can take
And my affection, well it comes and goes
I need direction to perfection, no no no no

— “All These Things That I’ve Done,” The Killers

This is our decision to live fast and die young.
We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do?
Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?

— “Time to Pretend,” MGMT

Everything is just fine
Everything is just fine
So long as I’m by your side
It’s perfect in my mind
— “Perfect In My Mind,” Gold Motel

Well everything’s another excuse
To keep from doing what I want to
Like I would really love to kiss you
But I guess I’m in no condition

— “This Scene is Dead,” We Are Scientists

If no one moves, then nobody’s gonna get hurt

— “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt,” We Are Scientists

No one understands me quite like you do
Through all the shadowy corners of me

— “Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop,” Landon Pigg

We celebrate our sense of each other
We have a lot to give one another

— “The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts,” Sufjan Stevens

And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I’ll ever ask of you
You’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when

— “Everlong (acoustic),” Foo Fighters

But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see

— “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” Neutral Milk Hotel

Don’t cool off
I like your warmth

— “Summertime Clothes,” Animal Collective

you’re still a wild one,
but what is it you’re running from?

— “Gun Shy,” Widowspeak

we may be on this road,
but we’re just impostors
in this country, you know

— “A Sorta Fairytale,” Tori Amos

Still I wish there was something you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talkin' anyway
Don't think twice, it's all right

— “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Bob Dylan cover),” Vonda Shepard

Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don’t know why

— “Born to Die,” Lana Del Rey

I can see that change was just too hard for us,
Hard for us.
You always had to hold the reigns,
But where I’m headed, you just don’t know the way.

— “Turn On Me,” The Shins

This sounds a bit like goodbye.
In a way it is, I guess.

— “Take Care (Big Star cover),” Yo La Tengo

Just because I’m hurting
Doesn’t mean I’m hurt
Doesn’t mean I didn’t get what I deserved
No better and no worse

— “Lost!,” Coldplay

I know you tried so hard, but you can’t even win
you gotta try a little harder, you’re the comeback kid

— “Comeback Kid,” Sleigh Bells

Everything sticks like a broken record
Everything sticks until it goes away
And the truth is, we don’t know anything

— “Ana Ng,” They Might Be Giants

And you can clean around the wound
but if you want to heal
it just takes time

— “Balance,” Future Islands

Things have changed for me, and that's okay,
I'm on my way, and I say.

Things have changed for me.

— “That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed),” Panic! At the Disco

.ZIP

i'll be your friend, your other brother

hockeybigbang art for altri_uccelli's Prise de Fer

Everything Is Just Fine | fic mix