music to save the world to

[whynot]

I was trying to cobble together a Dean/Castiel fanmix, but kept on finding Winchesters-appropriate songs instead. So this is kind of a mixed bag, not really a fanmix. Five songs about Sam and Dean, three songs about Dean and Castiel, and one song about Castiel.



SAM & DEAN

1. The Cave Singers, "Dancing On Our Graves"
But oh lord, I know what I've done / And oh lord, I ain't afraid.

In which it is a hard life killing monsters and stopping the Apocalypse, but as long as you've got a questionably close relationship with your brother, you'll be okay.


2. Coldplay, "Square One"
Deciphering the codes in you / I need a compass, draw me a map / I'm on the top I can't get back

So you and your brother have been the pawns of destiny since the beginning of creation apparently! What now? I guess telling destiny to fuck off.


3. Zero 7, "Home"
Make me somewhere I can call a home / 'Cause lately I've been losing on my own

The Winchesters have no home, just this Impala and each other. It weighs heavy on the mind sometimes. It gets a little claustrophobic, but as their previous separations and reunions have shown, they don't really know how to do it any other way.


4. The Notwist, "Be Reckless"
no matter what we say, no matter what we think / we will never leave this room

See above re: claustrophobia. They can't escape this life or each other.


5. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, "Will You Smile Again"
If heaven sent you downstream / Where banished eyes haven't been / Would you smile again for me?

First of all, this is one of my favorite songs EVER. SPN-wise, it's probably from Lucifer or Michael's POV. Destiny is closing in on all sides, and it's gonna make for some epic asskicking.


Honorary mention: Sufjan Stevens's "Size Too Small". I am weirdly set on this being my Merlin/Will song though, no matter how applicable it is to the Winchesters.



CASTIEL

Thom Yorke, "Analyse"
You traveled far / What have you found?

Castiel doubts.



DEAN & CASTIEL (I want Dean/Castiel fics that feel like these three songs. *___*)

1. Better Than Ezra, "Particle"
in an imploding star or a burned out car, i implore you / in a carbon arc or a dim lit park, i implore you

It's like in 4x01 when Castiel says, "What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved?" I literally want to point at every line of this song and go, "THIS IS SO THEM. DON'T YOU SEE?? 'EMBEDDED IN THE BONES'?? I mean HELLOOOOO."


2. Duncan Sheik, "Orpheus"
As Orpheus keeps to his promise, it stays by my side.

Like the last song, this one is ridiculously perfectly Castiel/Dean. ORPHEUS!CASTIEL AND EURYDICE!DEAN! Don't tell me that's not giving you plot bunnies! Or at least an interesting meta device. It's such a graceful subtle song and I want to quote it all at you, so here are the lyrics instead. It's not so much that Castiel is falling from grace, but rising to humanity.


3. Jose Gonzalez, "Crosses"
We'll cast some light and you'll be alright

Castiel at Dean's side, and all the religious symbolism you can fit in.


Honorary mention: Silverchair's "The Greatest View" (ANGELS ARE WATCHING OVER YOU) and Silversun Pickups's "Panic Switch". Maaaaaaaybe "Slow Song" by Hell Is For Heroes.

Nine songs in a ZIP file for your downloading pleasure.

Vid rec: Nowhere to Stop. The other Castiel/Dean vid I can't stop watching. What a beautifully haunting song. "If I can stand up to angels and men / I’ll never get swallowed in darkness again."

In other news, it's February Prompt Fest time at the Fleet!

Comments

[cassiopeia7.livejournal.com]

This: "It's not so much that Castiel is falling from grace, but rising to humanity." is just gorgeous. You are the first person to get me rethinking Castiel's "fall." Thinking that, perhaps it's not such a bad thing after all.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

I am of two minds about it. In the fervor of Sudden Onset Castiel/Dean Syndrome, I realized that Castiel/Dean... can't really have a happy ending?! 'Cos either a) Castiel falls; or b) Castiel doesn't fall and, since angels are eternal creatures, watches Dean grow old and die. Or I don't know, maybe Castiel will WANT to fall and like Anna will rip out his own grace because he realizes Heaven's a bunch of crap. So I guess that's a happy ending. Hmm, I'm not sure if I want him to fall though. I can see myself enjoying both storylines!

I am also partial to the idea of afterlife fic where a dead Dean chills out in Heaven with other dead people, and Castiel comes by to visit sometimes.

[lazaefair.livejournal.com]

I am also partial to the idea of afterlife fic where a dead Dean chills out in Heaven with other dead people, and Castiel comes by to visit sometimes.

I give you: fic where Castiel is sent on a mission to recruit Mal Reynolds (it's a Firefly crossover), and he frequently visits Dean in heaven...because he needs advice, and Dean is his safe place, and apparently makes a pretty good angel therapist. Bonus Jimmy appearance. No familiarity with Firefly required, except that it's 500 years in the future and humanity is in space.

Ch.1 Prism
Ch. 2 Beside Still Waters

Stupornatural IN SPAAAAACE

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Oh my! Thanks for the rec! :D

[22by7.livejournal.com]

But why are we so obsessed with the happy ending? I would like him to have an interesting, rich journey, and he's already claimed that right for himself from the middle of s4. I don't actually ask for happy endings for anyone, just the possibility of happiness along the way.

Which Dean/Castiel totally allows.

It's not so much that Castiel is falling from grace, but rising to humanity.
This is actually exactly what the show WANTS to say, I sometimes feel, it just gets lost in the bad writing.

You should just go listen to Lhasa de Sela (RIP :( ) because half of everything she wrote pertains terribly and beautifully to Castiel and D/C. If you think 'Anywhere on this road' is haunting and appropriate, just try 'My name'. Oooof.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

lol, are we? The characters have so much at stake that it's difficult to draw a clear divide between happy and sad. And that's cool, I just want a satisfying story in the end. Our Heroes can't have nice things, but they trudge on valiantly armed with eyesex and mantears.

Sweet, I will check her out!

[22by7.livejournal.com]

I put that very badly, I mean that I often get the sense that fandom people are saying, 'SIGH we can't have something as OOC/implausible as Castiel and Dean living the white picket fence and two and a half cats life, obviously'; the idea that it would be OOC/implausible for Dean/Castiel to be a certain way implies the assumption that a happy ending is an actual normative goal. Funnily, in this fandom, the assumption seems more normative than the impossible happy ending. Whereas I think trudging on with eyesex and mantears is pretty good for, well, a lot of people.

The trudging is key, of course, over and above the eyesex and mantears.

I put that very badly again and will be hated by people for being a hater. But it's 3 in the afternoon and I'm on drugs and miserable.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Funnily, in this fandom, the assumption seems more normative than the impossible happy ending.
Yes, this! SPN fandom is so bleak, fic-wise, compared to my previous fandoms, but I'm kind of loving it. It's refreshing. Suddenly it's whump everywhere, and man, if a fandom has its own lingo for character abuse, you know it's in knee-deep. But I guess that comes with the territory, 'cos if we compare what kind of show SPN is to what kind of show Merlin is... Well. We got unicorns coming back to life through the power of love in one show, and in the other show, Dean Winchester explicitly tells us there are no unicorns. (...But he was wrong about angels, so who knows.)

Also weird is the assumption that if you have an OTP, you would only want the best and happiest for it. Or that the OTP relationship dynamics would be how you would conduct relationships IRL. I dunno, maybe this is less of a thing in SPN fandom, since SPN is all about dysfunctional relationships.

But it's 3 in the afternoon and I'm on drugs and miserable.
Aww, sucks. <33 I hope you feel better soon! HATERS TO THE LEFT.

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

thanks for the music! i'm downloading now!

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I hope you enjoy!

[labseraph.livejournal.com]

I love the eclectic choices you shared here. Snagging them all. Thank you!