Fragments | 14: Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown

[luxken27]

Read it at: LJ | MM.org | FF.net | dA

Pairing: Miroku/Sango
Rating: T
Inspiration: “She's Like the Wind” © 1987 Patrick Swayze & Stacy Widelitz | “Alive” © 2001 Sonny Sandoval, Wuv Bernardo, Traa Daniels, Marcos Curiel, & Jason Truby [P.O.D]
Based upon: “Sometime Around Midnight” © 2008 Mikel Jollett [The Airborne Toxic Event]

This was a very interesting writing experience. I've known for months how this story ends, but I've had fleeting inspiration, at best, to finish it. Part of that is because I've fallen head over heels for another fandom, and part of it was my own self-imposed deadline of finishing this fic before the year ends...which naturally means I'm going to freeze under even that tiny dose of pressure.

But muses and music conspired for a weekend of magic, and thus, here we are :) This is the penultimate chapter of the story, and finally, we have the much anticipated reunion - even if it doesn't go exactly according to plan on either of the characters' parts o.O

This chapter is also the meeting of three incredibly different sorts of songs, which served as musical inspiration (and what finally pushed the right words out of my head). First we have the overall inspiration song, from which I clipped the rising crescendo of the final verse, and these words in particular:

So there's a change in your emotions
And all tehse memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind
Of the curl of your bodies, like two perfect circles entwined
And you feel hopeless and homeless and lost in the haze of the wine

Oh, and your friends say, "What is it - you look like you've seen a ghost!"

*sigh* I listen to this song, and I'm immediately transported back into this universe. I can honestly say I'm quite satisfied with how I've interpreted the song - the lyrics, the instrumentation, the harmony and melody and the entire package - into words. It's about creating an atmosphere as much as anything else, and, at least for myself, that's totally there.

The second song is an import from my epic KI fic, Stacy in Bloom. I've sorta widened my sweep of nostalgia to include greater swathes of 80s pop culture, and nothing was quite as big, at least amongst the younger set, as the cult classic movie Dirty Dancing and its lead actor's torch song, She's Like the Wind. It was played at a very pivotal point in the movie, and it's a song I've been listening to, on and off, ever since I rewatched the film itself a couple of weeks ago. It's the perfect sort of angsty, longing/yearning song that just cries out for fic, IMO - and it kinda fit perfectly into this chapter, reflecting Miroku's inner turmoil about how he's handled this entire situation. A few relevant lyrics:

She's taken my heart / but she doesn't know what she's done
Living without her / I go insane
I feel her breath on my face / her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes / she's out of my league
Just a fool to believe I have anything she needs

And, finally, we have another one of those darn 'waaaaaaaaay too sexual but supposedly Christian' songs (a la Feel Good Drag) that *perfectly* encapsulated the explosion of emotion and feeling that Miroku experienced the moment Sango kissed him. I was searching for some specific musical inspiration for that part of the fic, and I immediately hit on this song, which I'd long ago filed away as potential songfic fodder. I like the way the chorus bursts out of the heaviness of the verses, so clear and true and hopeful, like someone discovering the power of sexual love for the first time. (This is why I have a hard time believing it's supposed to be a "I love God this much" type of song - the first time I heard it, and every subsequent time, I immediately thought about sex :P)

Lyrics:

I feel so alive / For the very first time
I can't deny you / I feel so alive

Now that I know you / I could never turn my back away
Now that I see you / I could never look away
Now that I see you / I believe no matter what they say

I apologize in advance for my patented evil!cliffhanger, but I promise two things: (1) there is a happy ending on the horizon, and (2) it will be delivered before the end of the year, if I can get my muses to cooperate *crosses fingers*

Comments

[luxken27]

Oh...now I remember! You're the author of Fragments...*is so blind and oblivious*

In your defense, it *has* been four months since I updated that fic (or any IY fic, truth be told), so don't be too hard on yourself ;)

I'm glad you like the story! :D It's probably one of my better ones, considering I was able to apply the lessons of my previous fic ventures to it. It's certainly the most award-winning thing I've ever done, for what that's worth o.O All in all, it's been quite the journey, and now it's almost over...

I can't even remember what chapter I was on (the fourth one, maybe?). And you're already at 14?! Wow, I'm way out of it. >.<;;

Just think of it as being able to read multiple updates at once without the agonizing wait between chapters ;) I promise, the story isn't going anywhere, so there's no need to rush!

[aamalie]

And, finally, we have another one of those darn 'waaaaaaaaay too sexual but supposedly Christian' songs

LOLOLOL. Hello, STORY OF MY LIFE.

(Seriously, almost all of my best OTP songs are ~songs about Jesus~. I mean, did you see that fanmix I did? Still, good to know I'm not the only one!)

[luxken27]

LOL. I don't know about you, but back when I still identified as a Christian I never loved God in a sexual way. That was always reserved for those fundamentalists so far off the grid they formed their own sects and parlayed this into polygamous relationships with the cult leader prophet o.O

[aamalie]

LOL, YEAH, UH. Nothing sexual about it! That's taking the Bridegroom/Bride analogy a little too far. Like, way beyond fundamentalism and straight into heretical. Hence: CULTS.

(This is why I always get a little >.> when people start allegorizing Song of Solomon. IT'S ABOUT TWO PEOPLE HAVING SEX, GUYS, COME ON. But, uh, that's another topic altogether?)

[luxken27]

IT'S ABOUT TWO PEOPLE HAVING SEX, GUYS, COME ON.

BUT PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE SEX AND ~ENJOY~ IT IN BIBLICAL TIMES! Heaven forfend! :P

But back to the music...I don't know why people co-opt these songs. It *is* possible to celebrate love and happiness without making it all about God! (Admittedly, this might apply better to 'Feel Good Drag' instead, because I don't think Anberlin has identified as a Christian band...but still. My point stands.)

[aamalie]

OH SNAP. I GUESS I NEED TO RETHINK MY THEOLOGY THEN. DRATS.

No, I totally agree! I have met people who legitimately think that no music is good unless the lyrics are somehow about God which... doesn't make sense? At all? (And there is such a dearth of music by explicitly Christian bands that is just about feelings and life, as opposed to just praise/worship. Buuuuut that just might be me complaining a little, LOL.)

As for Anberlin, I'm pretty sure all of the members identify as Christian, and they regularly play at Christian concerts. However, they don't identify the band itself as strictly Christian.