Rider's Quadrant Winter Fanfic Exchange
So @the-riders-quadrant is hosting Prompt Exchange for their Winter Solstice. My prompt was to make a playlist on the relationship of Dain and Sloane! I took it further and wrote a small paper about why each song works. Let's begin shall we? It's Salining Christmas time!
This analytical paper on 'Slain for Christmas' will have five focuses: winter within the land, the blossoming of friendship between lovers, the songs of Dain, the songs of Slaone, and, lastly, Christmas itself and how it would be celebrated. We shall begin with winter in the land. You cannot have Christmas without some winter ambiance. ‘The Frozen Continent’s Welcome Day and Night’ from “Monster Hunter Icebrone” OST has a magical feeling that embodies winter itself. The chimes sneak into the melody that shows the magical essence of the runes. The two songs are similar yet opposite in their approaches. It starts off with a strong melody and slowly goes quiet. It brings out the magic that is described in the world and shows the playfulness of the day with the somberness of the night. Winter is known as a time for calm, growth, and reflection to move forward. A soft melody with sparkles of hope comes from Deep Stone Lullaby from Beyond Light. The song expresses the calm, beautiful quality that is winter; the moment you sit next to a fire or look up at the starry sky in the cold. It’s peaceful, it’s calm.
On the other end of the spectrum of the warm feelings of the season winter tends to have harsh and cold battles. Our very own ‘Battle of Basgiath’ comes to mind when I think about the harshness of winter. While it’s not crucial to the topic, I need to note it once, as this battle plays a significant role in Dain and Sloane. One could think this is how they begin forming their strong bond of battle brothers and sisters. So, this needed to be in the playlist to hint at the harsh battle but also play an impactful note in the beginning tides. For this I chose Behold, ‘The Ruler of Frost’ from “Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Original Soundtrack” due to how it plays similarly to a few other OST’s within the album, but stands out on its own. The tempo is the same, but the sound starts hopeful and kind, then slowly turns into what we know as ‘Battle of Basgiath’. Yet it still plays out the hopeful melody, the melody that bonds people together in harsh winter.
In our last song of this part, we aren’t going to focus on the magical feeling or the trials of combat in winter, not even the calm in it. We are going to focus on the physical feeling of winter. While, yes, I am fully aware Winter is also hot…I don’t know how to explain that without having personal experience. So, for those in hot winters, forgive me. When I hear the melody of ‘Beneath the Ice’ by Jeremy Soule from “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”, it makes me think of the type of cold you see in your breath. The kind you feel when you are hit with snow or those types of days where it is covered in a white blanket, the world becomes still.
We cover winter and all the wonderful parts of it. Now onto the friendship of the two, and hopefully become a couple in Book Four. If not, I will riot for twenty seconds…then reread said book. Anyway, enough about me, let's talk about our Slain. It's one of the couples that will be canon based on RY’s interview, which is good news for the shippers. Bad News for me, because they aren’t there yet. I can not pick a song until that moment happens. So, I will make my way up to the moment.
When the first two met, it was on the famous conscription day. Slaone is trying to make it across the parapet. Dain ships her towards the Fourth Wing quickly. Some could say it's about Liam’s death, others say it could be the fact that Dain is trying to make things right with Violet. Why not both? Hence, this area features two consecutive songs by the same artist. Ryo Kunihiko composed both ‘Power of the Four Dragons’ and ‘Childhood in Kouka Kingdom’. The reason for these two is due to the tense moments, but the thoughts behind them are gentle. You have the tense feelings of crossing the parapet or the meeting of a specter, but those actions are gentle and careful, one could say comforting. It’s why I use ‘Childhood in Kouka Kingdom’ as the second song with it. To show the actions are gentler on the inside, but on the outside, they are ruthless. It’s also conscription day! Who finds love on that- oh, never mind.
It is time to explain the famous ‘ Eyes on Me’ moment between Dain and Sloane. I will admit this one took longer than any other song, because this moment is huge. It must be perfect. I went with an artist known as ‘Adrian Von Ziegler’ for the moment. I chose this song, 'Home of Heroes,' for its gentle melody to mimic Sloane’s world slowing down in the moment when she is scared. While in the moment, Dain is a little harsh, but he is there for her. It’s also to show they are heroes protecting their home.
Our first lyrical song is up: ‘Down for the Ride' by Matthew Guerra and Lizz Robinett. This song is a cover, but the melody and the way the two characters interact remind me more of the hurt/comfort people see within the ship than the original. Now, when I normally pick a ship for that moment– at that moment– they are together, and I know in that moment what type of emotion to focus on. However, we have no idea when that will happen. In lieu of that, I pick something that could occur. They choose each other for the ride. The moment they go ‘ I choose them,’ reminds me of the lyrical part in the chorus. “Taking over feeling at home with you Moving forward, learn to let go It’s that look in your eyes that says Baby, I’m down for the ride.”
The song finally gives them comfort in their hurt. So much hurt, that to have the comfort that they are finally no longer alone. That connection is what makes this a special type of ship. Their past created the hurt; their union brings comfort. Now that we have five songs, we can focus on Dain and songs around his life.
The first song that reminds me of Dain is ‘ I will guard you,’ by Yuki Kaijura. The main reason is due to Dain’s protective nature. We all know he is protective and sometimes goes overboard with it. It’s why I chose a gentler melody for it, because it blinds him. When you think of protecting someone, you often think of harsh, rough beats. I chose a gentler one to show how it can trick him. He cares about those he protects, but also often lets his feelings misguide him. Hence, ‘I will guard you’ came to mind. He means well, but is so horrible at showing it in his actions. His signet comes to mind in his protective nature, but how powerful it is.
A memory is a message. He is so powerful that many people are not allowed to use it. Thus, I chose ‘Each Memory a Message’ by Evan Call. The main reason is how we often see his signet being used in bad lighting. However, we forget one thing: Dain can see his mother through people’s memories. He can see the view of his mother through the people who loved her. He can feel every emotion within that message of a memory. He also uses these memories to learn the truth in “Iron Flame, making his stance clear in the hidden war. It's why I chose a gentler beat for this on Dain’s mini playlist, because we all know how poorly he uses his signet. We forget that he can use it for good in his life and to understand the world around him.
You know, this next part is going to be the hardest song to mimic: Dain and his love of the codex. He doesn’t break rules without reason or purpose, even though we know from Violet’s point of view how he lets the codex blind him a little bit. I had to go through so many songs, such as ‘Let it Go’ as my loving husband mentioned. It took me a bit to realize something. What if I reflect on Dain’s struggle with the Codex? His relationship with it is very complicated in “Iron Flame” and gone in “Onyx Storm”. Thus, I selected ‘The Arena’ by Linsey Stirling. It starts with little gentleness, curious even, but as time goes on, it becomes rougher and turns into a fight. However, it’s the same main instrument throughout the song; the violin. For Dain it’s a fight within himself when it comes to the Codex. What is right by the rules? What is right by his morals? By the end of the song, he makes his choice and goes by what is right for him in “Iron Flame”.
There is a spot I wish to touch on, but one person never pauses to think about: his intelligence, and how he could have been a scribe at some level. I went with ‘Intellectual Curiosity’ by Satoru Kosaki. Something about the melody being gentle with string instruments makes me think about how a very little amount of people realize this. Dain is really smart, he knows a tough language and can read many other languages. He may have struggled, but he would have been a good scribe. Something about him needs slutty glasses.
Now onto the lyrical song for Dain, I thought it would be fitting to go with ‘This Life is Mine,’ by Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams. The main reason I picked this is that the melody changes from soft to rough. The buildup talks about Dain being behind his father’s shadow for a while, and then goes on to stepping out of it to face his father.
The main lyrical reason is due to the chorus that made me pause, go ‘ Dain? You fighting back now?’ ‘Listen when I say I swear it here today I will not surrender This life is mine!’
I strongly think his father is going to be the next BBEG, which is going to cause Dain problems. He is going to be fighting for what he wants in his life; he is going to fight for Slaone. That’s my guess based on my own insight, but he is going to be stronger in the end.
Now, we move on to our girl, our angry at the world emo child: Sloane. We know she suffered A LOT before coming into the series. Shall we explore this bit? ‘Grief’ by Adrian Von Ziegler is our starting point for her. ‘ War. War Never Changes,’ a powerful quote from Fallout. It talks about the method of war changes, but the core stays the same. The conflict of human suffering and brutality. This plays a huge role in the Tyrrish Rebellion. Sloane Mairi saw this firsthand with her brother Liam. She witnesses her parents being killed in the name of war. She was taken away from her brother to be raised by a different family. She lost her home to those who showed ‘good faith.’ That’s based on the word ‘ Grief’. We focus on the melody: it’s soft, saddening with the piano. The melody bends together into a song full of different reasons to be grieving. Her story starts off with a person who is grieving quietly, hiding her emotions from her foster family. We do not know if they were kind or horrible outside of no combat training, but I know she is crying herself to sleep quietly.
Hope comes to Sloane, but is quickly destroyed when she takes the first step into Basgiath. She lost Liam, the only thing that may have kept her going in those years with her foster family. It’s why I chose ‘Separated by the Storm’ by Gareth Coker. The two were separated for a long time, like those who get lost in a storm. However, they would never meet, and Sloane’s quiet crying turns into a storm of rage.
We all remember the deal Sloane had with Violet. Train your ass off, and you get Liam’s letters. Truthfully, this could have been the first time Sloane had kindness from anyone who wasn’t a marked one. So, it’s why I chose ‘Equal Exchanged ( A full metal alchemist Orchestration)’ by Rush Garcia. It covers the gentle yet tough approach of Violet making a deal, then turns into a training montage for her. A letter gives her hope back and gives her insight into the world she has just entered. The gentle melody turns into a louder melody with the same instruments. It gives her the reason to push toward finding her red dragon, similar to her brother’s, then growing into a stronger woman. A bit bratty, but that’s for the NSFW fanfics.
As I listen to different types of music, something comes to mind about Sloane. Her anger, her fear. It’s something people never really get in touch about besides the war and her brother. What about her fear of not being good enough? What about the fear of her signet? It’s a different type of fear hitting her all at once, due to this thought process. I put ‘Fear Swells’ by Michael Salvatori and other artists in this spot. The different sound effects are dancing around each other. Like the different fears dancing around Sloane’s mind. The trumpet hides the touch of anger, but it’s also there to fuel her fears. She fears wars; she is scared by a lot of things. This plays into the comfort/hurt of the ship.
Lastly, her lyrical piece in her section: ‘Fly or Die’ by Bookish Songs Collective. While the song has a strong focus on Violet, think about it. Her first year at Basgiath is hellish, outside of normal hell. She is a marked one and has a civil war in her first year. She witnessed a death in front of her and said death was caused by people begging her to help. So, yes, she has to fly or die in her first year. While she is not a signet of lightning storms, her ability is just as strong. She has to find the courage and fly in the sky.
As I thought about Christmas music for this playlist, I couldn’t find ones that fit the overall theme in the empyrean’s world, but it’s hard to figure out ones that aren’t too cheesy or country-like. I also didn’t feel the punk Christmas songs would fit into this either. So after the fly or die, the rest of the songs were close seconds for one reason or another, but did not fit into the vibes in my head now of writing the area.
Comments and criticism are always welcome.
