[fanmix] Nothing But The Sky: A Dragon Corps Mix
Good lord, after ages of procrastinating and slaving over this stupid thing, I have finally finished this mix. I am never doing a ficmix ever again. Unless I'm feeling particularly masochistic.
So yes, here we are, a mix for everyone's favorite riders of metal dragons and 17 drabbles to accompany it. Obviously there are spoilers for the whole book. And that joke tracklisting, don't even ask about it. Just, don't.
cover + joke tracklist by incidentalmind
THE EMPIRE STRIKES FIRST - Bad Religion
we strike first
and we're unrehearsed
here we go again
to stage the greatest show on heaven and earth
come on, get your money's worth
There were all sorts of stories about the Dragon Corps. Of course, the more interesting ones came from the lower parts of Molly, where this sort of gossip was so commonplace that it would have been unusual otherwise. Yet even the members of high society often discussed the affairs of the city's questionable guard.
This was to be expected, however, when members of the Corps themselves helped spread the rumors. They’d even had a bet going to see who could get the city to believe the most outrageous rumor about them until Adamo “ruined the fun” and told them off.
CARTOON HEROES - Aqua
we are the color symphony
we do the things you wanna see
frame by frame, to the extreme
our friends are so unreasonable
they do the unpredictable
all dots lines that speak and say
what we do is what you wish to do
They were gonna be famous, Rook always said - or at least they better damn be. They were too important, too indispensible to be ignored. Luvander had joked about wanting giant statues of themselves put up around the city, and while the others teased him about it, an unspoken agreement was reached among them. Not necessarily about the statues, but about the fact that they were fucking important.
After all, how many people could ride a giant metal dragon with the skill and dexterity that the Corps possessed? Not many, Luvander said, pointing out the lack of giant statues in Thremedon.
FOUR MINUTES (TO SAVE THE WORLD) - Madonna (ft. JT & Timbaland)
the road to heaven is paved with good intentions
yeah
but if I die tonight at least I can say
I did what I wanted to do
tell me how 'bout you?
Shit happens. Up in the sky, in the middle of battle, when you only have mere seconds to make a decision and act upon it, this was a motto generally agreed upon. But “generally agreed upon” does not necessarily mean “taken into consideration when all was said and done.” Adamo was getting sick of reprimanding people for taking stupid risks. The rest of them were getting sick of being reprimanded. But in the end it was always justified the same way; you had to do what you had to do while at war. Risks were practically mandatory. And shit happens.
ACTION MOVIE HERO BOY - Lemon Demon
hey, look at me
casually walking away,
like action movie hero boy
in slo-mo,
everything glowing and blowing to bits right behind me.
“Did you see that flip Vachir and I pulled off towards the end there?” Merritt crowed, wiping the grime from his face and succeeding only in smearing it around a bit.
“It wasn’t that impressive,” Evariste muttered, pulling off his goggles. His forehead was bleeding slightly, the only bit of color standing out against shades of gray.
Merritt just grinned at him, running a hand through his hair and shaking soot to the floor. “Looks like someone’s jealous.”
Evariste raised an eyebrow at him coolly. “When I want to kill myself with stupid stunts I’ll come to you for advice.”
NOTHING BUT THE SKY - Ivy
meet me tonight
fifteen miles high
nothing but the sky
shining in your eyes
You could ask any of the Dragon Corps members about what it was like to fly with a dragon, and though they all could answer in great detail, you would get fourteen different answers.
The bond between rider and dragon was something else. They found it hard to explain; one could say all sorts of mushy things about “connections” and “understanding,” but in the end it boiled down to the fact that without your dragon watching out for you, you were screwed.
And no one knew that more than your dragon. It explained why most of them were total smartasses.
OUR HOUSE - Madness
our house it has a crowd
there's always something happening
and it's usually quite loud
It happened so fast that Merritt didn’t see it coming - one second he was innocently dropping his boots onto the floor, the next second Rook had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and was shouting about how he better not fucking leave his boots there again or Rook would skin him alive. Merritt replied that he couldn’t pick up his shoes if Rook was smashing him against a wall, and Rook growled something uncouth about his sister.
Balfour murmured nervously that they’d get yelled at if they kept fighting and got Merritt thrown at him for his trouble.
ON THE VERGE OF THE ASSAULT - FFVII Crisis Core OST
instrumental
The first time Balfour heard the alarm sirens, he had been uneasy, though he would never admit how unsettling it had been - and still was - to any of the others. Jeannot told him that after a while he would get used to it, but thus far, that hadn’t happened. Every time the alarm would sound, an acute feeling of anxious rushed through him. He was certain, nearly 100 percent sure, that the others felt this way too, whether they confessed it or not. To be unafraid was to be incredibly thick.
Unfortunately, many of the others believed quite the opposite.
CHICK HABIT - April March
hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
a girl's not a tonic or a pill
hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
you're just jonesing for a spill
“Truthfully, you probably deserved that slap.”
“Oh, shove it, Raphael,” Magoughin muttered, touching the side of his face tenderly. There was still a rather large red mark there from his earlier…encounter.
Raphael went on talking, ignoring Magoughin’s order to shut up. “I told you that telling those sorts of jokes to respectable women would do you no good.” He smiled amicably, the facial equivalent of an “I told you so.”
Magoughin just scowled, complaining under his breath about women and their damn “sensitivities.” It was just a shitty excuse for having no real sense of humor, that’s what it was.
YOU GONNA FEEL - Peacemaker Kurogane OP
japanese lyrics
Ace was staring at the spot on the wall just above his head. He scowled, turning around to snap, “Watch where you’re throwing those things, would you?”
Rook snorted, rolling his eyes. “Don’t be such a cindy and give me back that dart.”
Grumbling, Ace pulled the dart out of the wall, but didn’t move. “Come get it yourself.”
The two proceeded to glare at each other, neither budging. Finally, Rook shrugged.
“Wanna play a round?”
Ace smiled deviously. “If you don’t mind losing.”
If there’s one thing you learned at the Airman, it was that giving in was unacceptable.
MINIATURE DISASTERS - KT Tunstall
and I need to be patient
and I need to be brave
need to discover
how I need to behave
and I'll find out the answers
when I know what to ask
but I speak a different language
and everybody's talking too fast
Sighing, Thom sat down heavily on the edge of his makeshift bed, wiping egg yolk from his face. It was one thing for the Corps to play pranks on him, but it was another thing entirely to waste good eggs doing so.
He wondered idly if the others thought he would ever quit trying to teach them to behave. Honestly, he’d liked to, but that option was pretty much out of the question. He’d just tough it out. After all, if Balfour had survived, then so would Thom.
Egg dripped into Thom’s eye, and he winced. Tough it out. Right.
WATCH THE SKY - Something Corporate
I will crawl
there's things that are worth giving up, I know
but I won't let this get me
I will fight
you live the life you're given with the storms outside
some days all I do is watch the sky
The sky burned red most nights now. The alarms sounded more frequently, and the Airman had never been dirtier, with even more grime tracked about and no one wanting to clean it. Even Thom was starting to ignore the dirt; he was too busy worrying, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. But every night the sirens would blare and he’d shift uncomfortably under his blanket (he still couldn’t sleep easily) and wonder if everyone that went out that night would come back by morning.
If any in the Corps was as worried, they certainly weren’t showing it.
CONTROLLING THE IRON BEAST - FFVII Crisis Core OST
instrumental
They wouldn’t admit it. It was almost too shameful, confessing that your dragon, your own partner, wouldn’t even listen to you anymore. Each fight was a struggle not to get killed (not that any time before that wasn’t). They just pretended that the extra cuts and burns were from all the shifts they had been taking, avoiding pointing out each other’s injuries in case anyone brought theirs up in response.
And it was depressing. Though they kept up a pretty good air of confidence, Thom could tell something was wrong. It was absolutely depressing, even if he didn’t know why.
WAR PIGS - Black Sabbath
now in darkness, world stops turning
as the war machine keeps burning
no more war pigs of the power
hand of God has struck the hour
day of judgement, God is calling
There were no doubts about it: they were pissed when they learned that the Esar was just using them pretty much as cannon fodder. Rook at least was very vocal on that point.
“I don’t believe you would be allowed to get away with that,” Ivory remarked after Rook had muttered something particularly savage under his breath, and Rook responded in turn with a very rude gesture.
“Why’re you so fucking calm about it?” Rook snapped, running a hand back through his tangled braids.
“This is my angry face,” Ivory replied, expression completely composed. Rook rolled his eyes. Damn bastard.
THE SUMMONED - FFVII Crisis Core OST
instrumental
Niall let out a loud, rather uncharacteristic whoop as their dragons soared into the air, sounding more enthusiastic than his body language conveyed.
“Weren’t you just complaining how tired you were in the Airman?” Ghislain shouted over the wind rushing past, unsure if Niall could hear him.
“Got to get in the mood!” Niall yelled back, beaming. His dragon, Erdeni, echoed the sentiment with a high pitched growl.
What that mood was, exactly, Ghislain didn’t bother asking about as Niall turned back to look straight ahead, clutching Erdeni’s reigns tightly, an air of gravity surrounding him that was unfortunately contagious.
LET THE FLAMES BEGIN - Paramore
oh, glory
oh, glory
this is how we'll dance when
when they try to take us down
this is what will be, oh glory
It was going to end. Everything they ever stood and fought for, it was all going to be finished one way or another.
But as long as they didn’t reflect upon it too much, the confidence swelled, taking over every action and thought. Just as the anxiety was infectious, so was the enthusiasm, and it only took one little spark of encouragement for them to really kick ass.
Adamo had never been one for motivational speeches, but the Corps had always been pretty easily, well, motivated. You just had to throw in some swearing and a reference to women’s undergarments.
SHIRO, LONG TAILS - Wolf's Rain OST
instrumental
Compagnon wasn’t one hundred percent sure what he was doing, but the “why” was only too clear. The wind was howling more ferociously than ever, threatening to rip him right off Spiridon’s back, but he wasn’t giving up, not when they were so close - close to what? Victory? The end? - and all of a sudden Jeannot and Ace were at his side, their dragons fighting against the storm to get to the tower, survival be damned at this point -
And as they broke through, a whirl of twisting metal and flames, things really got messy.
But it was worth it.
VIVA LA VIDA - Coldplay
I used to rule the world
seas would rise when I gave the word
now in the morning I sleep alone
sweep the streets I used to own
Everything in the city was a harsh reminder of the way things used to be: the statues (huge and lifeless, glinting in the sun with a warmth they never could possess), the Airman (they still hadn’t torn it down), the way the people went on with their lives (no one could stop them, after all, and no one wanted to).
Their time had passed, the age of heroism and endurance and surviving on plain luck. Things weren’t perfect now, of course, but the city had moved on, and so had the Dragon Corps.
At least, what was left of it.
//download .zip//
Comments greatly appreciated! Enjoy and spread the love. :D
So yes, here we are, a mix for everyone's favorite riders of metal dragons and 17 drabbles to accompany it. Obviously there are spoilers for the whole book. And that joke tracklisting, don't even ask about it. Just, don't.
cover + joke tracklist by incidentalmind
THE EMPIRE STRIKES FIRST - Bad Religion
we strike first
and we're unrehearsed
here we go again
to stage the greatest show on heaven and earth
come on, get your money's worth
There were all sorts of stories about the Dragon Corps. Of course, the more interesting ones came from the lower parts of Molly, where this sort of gossip was so commonplace that it would have been unusual otherwise. Yet even the members of high society often discussed the affairs of the city's questionable guard.
This was to be expected, however, when members of the Corps themselves helped spread the rumors. They’d even had a bet going to see who could get the city to believe the most outrageous rumor about them until Adamo “ruined the fun” and told them off.
CARTOON HEROES - Aqua
we are the color symphony
we do the things you wanna see
frame by frame, to the extreme
our friends are so unreasonable
they do the unpredictable
all dots lines that speak and say
what we do is what you wish to do
They were gonna be famous, Rook always said - or at least they better damn be. They were too important, too indispensible to be ignored. Luvander had joked about wanting giant statues of themselves put up around the city, and while the others teased him about it, an unspoken agreement was reached among them. Not necessarily about the statues, but about the fact that they were fucking important.
After all, how many people could ride a giant metal dragon with the skill and dexterity that the Corps possessed? Not many, Luvander said, pointing out the lack of giant statues in Thremedon.
FOUR MINUTES (TO SAVE THE WORLD) - Madonna (ft. JT & Timbaland)
the road to heaven is paved with good intentions
yeah
but if I die tonight at least I can say
I did what I wanted to do
tell me how 'bout you?
Shit happens. Up in the sky, in the middle of battle, when you only have mere seconds to make a decision and act upon it, this was a motto generally agreed upon. But “generally agreed upon” does not necessarily mean “taken into consideration when all was said and done.” Adamo was getting sick of reprimanding people for taking stupid risks. The rest of them were getting sick of being reprimanded. But in the end it was always justified the same way; you had to do what you had to do while at war. Risks were practically mandatory. And shit happens.
ACTION MOVIE HERO BOY - Lemon Demon
hey, look at me
casually walking away,
like action movie hero boy
in slo-mo,
everything glowing and blowing to bits right behind me.
“Did you see that flip Vachir and I pulled off towards the end there?” Merritt crowed, wiping the grime from his face and succeeding only in smearing it around a bit.
“It wasn’t that impressive,” Evariste muttered, pulling off his goggles. His forehead was bleeding slightly, the only bit of color standing out against shades of gray.
Merritt just grinned at him, running a hand through his hair and shaking soot to the floor. “Looks like someone’s jealous.”
Evariste raised an eyebrow at him coolly. “When I want to kill myself with stupid stunts I’ll come to you for advice.”
NOTHING BUT THE SKY - Ivy
meet me tonight
fifteen miles high
nothing but the sky
shining in your eyes
You could ask any of the Dragon Corps members about what it was like to fly with a dragon, and though they all could answer in great detail, you would get fourteen different answers.
The bond between rider and dragon was something else. They found it hard to explain; one could say all sorts of mushy things about “connections” and “understanding,” but in the end it boiled down to the fact that without your dragon watching out for you, you were screwed.
And no one knew that more than your dragon. It explained why most of them were total smartasses.
OUR HOUSE - Madness
our house it has a crowd
there's always something happening
and it's usually quite loud
It happened so fast that Merritt didn’t see it coming - one second he was innocently dropping his boots onto the floor, the next second Rook had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and was shouting about how he better not fucking leave his boots there again or Rook would skin him alive. Merritt replied that he couldn’t pick up his shoes if Rook was smashing him against a wall, and Rook growled something uncouth about his sister.
Balfour murmured nervously that they’d get yelled at if they kept fighting and got Merritt thrown at him for his trouble.
ON THE VERGE OF THE ASSAULT - FFVII Crisis Core OST
instrumental
The first time Balfour heard the alarm sirens, he had been uneasy, though he would never admit how unsettling it had been - and still was - to any of the others. Jeannot told him that after a while he would get used to it, but thus far, that hadn’t happened. Every time the alarm would sound, an acute feeling of anxious rushed through him. He was certain, nearly 100 percent sure, that the others felt this way too, whether they confessed it or not. To be unafraid was to be incredibly thick.
Unfortunately, many of the others believed quite the opposite.
CHICK HABIT - April March
hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
a girl's not a tonic or a pill
hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
you're just jonesing for a spill
“Truthfully, you probably deserved that slap.”
“Oh, shove it, Raphael,” Magoughin muttered, touching the side of his face tenderly. There was still a rather large red mark there from his earlier…encounter.
Raphael went on talking, ignoring Magoughin’s order to shut up. “I told you that telling those sorts of jokes to respectable women would do you no good.” He smiled amicably, the facial equivalent of an “I told you so.”
Magoughin just scowled, complaining under his breath about women and their damn “sensitivities.” It was just a shitty excuse for having no real sense of humor, that’s what it was.
YOU GONNA FEEL - Peacemaker Kurogane OP
japanese lyrics
Ace was staring at the spot on the wall just above his head. He scowled, turning around to snap, “Watch where you’re throwing those things, would you?”
Rook snorted, rolling his eyes. “Don’t be such a cindy and give me back that dart.”
Grumbling, Ace pulled the dart out of the wall, but didn’t move. “Come get it yourself.”
The two proceeded to glare at each other, neither budging. Finally, Rook shrugged.
“Wanna play a round?”
Ace smiled deviously. “If you don’t mind losing.”
If there’s one thing you learned at the Airman, it was that giving in was unacceptable.
MINIATURE DISASTERS - KT Tunstall
and I need to be patient
and I need to be brave
need to discover
how I need to behave
and I'll find out the answers
when I know what to ask
but I speak a different language
and everybody's talking too fast
Sighing, Thom sat down heavily on the edge of his makeshift bed, wiping egg yolk from his face. It was one thing for the Corps to play pranks on him, but it was another thing entirely to waste good eggs doing so.
He wondered idly if the others thought he would ever quit trying to teach them to behave. Honestly, he’d liked to, but that option was pretty much out of the question. He’d just tough it out. After all, if Balfour had survived, then so would Thom.
Egg dripped into Thom’s eye, and he winced. Tough it out. Right.
WATCH THE SKY - Something Corporate
I will crawl
there's things that are worth giving up, I know
but I won't let this get me
I will fight
you live the life you're given with the storms outside
some days all I do is watch the sky
The sky burned red most nights now. The alarms sounded more frequently, and the Airman had never been dirtier, with even more grime tracked about and no one wanting to clean it. Even Thom was starting to ignore the dirt; he was too busy worrying, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. But every night the sirens would blare and he’d shift uncomfortably under his blanket (he still couldn’t sleep easily) and wonder if everyone that went out that night would come back by morning.
If any in the Corps was as worried, they certainly weren’t showing it.
CONTROLLING THE IRON BEAST - FFVII Crisis Core OST
instrumental
They wouldn’t admit it. It was almost too shameful, confessing that your dragon, your own partner, wouldn’t even listen to you anymore. Each fight was a struggle not to get killed (not that any time before that wasn’t). They just pretended that the extra cuts and burns were from all the shifts they had been taking, avoiding pointing out each other’s injuries in case anyone brought theirs up in response.
And it was depressing. Though they kept up a pretty good air of confidence, Thom could tell something was wrong. It was absolutely depressing, even if he didn’t know why.
WAR PIGS - Black Sabbath
now in darkness, world stops turning
as the war machine keeps burning
no more war pigs of the power
hand of God has struck the hour
day of judgement, God is calling
There were no doubts about it: they were pissed when they learned that the Esar was just using them pretty much as cannon fodder. Rook at least was very vocal on that point.
“I don’t believe you would be allowed to get away with that,” Ivory remarked after Rook had muttered something particularly savage under his breath, and Rook responded in turn with a very rude gesture.
“Why’re you so fucking calm about it?” Rook snapped, running a hand back through his tangled braids.
“This is my angry face,” Ivory replied, expression completely composed. Rook rolled his eyes. Damn bastard.
THE SUMMONED - FFVII Crisis Core OST
instrumental
Niall let out a loud, rather uncharacteristic whoop as their dragons soared into the air, sounding more enthusiastic than his body language conveyed.
“Weren’t you just complaining how tired you were in the Airman?” Ghislain shouted over the wind rushing past, unsure if Niall could hear him.
“Got to get in the mood!” Niall yelled back, beaming. His dragon, Erdeni, echoed the sentiment with a high pitched growl.
What that mood was, exactly, Ghislain didn’t bother asking about as Niall turned back to look straight ahead, clutching Erdeni’s reigns tightly, an air of gravity surrounding him that was unfortunately contagious.
LET THE FLAMES BEGIN - Paramore
oh, glory
oh, glory
this is how we'll dance when
when they try to take us down
this is what will be, oh glory
It was going to end. Everything they ever stood and fought for, it was all going to be finished one way or another.
But as long as they didn’t reflect upon it too much, the confidence swelled, taking over every action and thought. Just as the anxiety was infectious, so was the enthusiasm, and it only took one little spark of encouragement for them to really kick ass.
Adamo had never been one for motivational speeches, but the Corps had always been pretty easily, well, motivated. You just had to throw in some swearing and a reference to women’s undergarments.
SHIRO, LONG TAILS - Wolf's Rain OST
instrumental
Compagnon wasn’t one hundred percent sure what he was doing, but the “why” was only too clear. The wind was howling more ferociously than ever, threatening to rip him right off Spiridon’s back, but he wasn’t giving up, not when they were so close - close to what? Victory? The end? - and all of a sudden Jeannot and Ace were at his side, their dragons fighting against the storm to get to the tower, survival be damned at this point -
And as they broke through, a whirl of twisting metal and flames, things really got messy.
But it was worth it.
VIVA LA VIDA - Coldplay
I used to rule the world
seas would rise when I gave the word
now in the morning I sleep alone
sweep the streets I used to own
Everything in the city was a harsh reminder of the way things used to be: the statues (huge and lifeless, glinting in the sun with a warmth they never could possess), the Airman (they still hadn’t torn it down), the way the people went on with their lives (no one could stop them, after all, and no one wanted to).
Their time had passed, the age of heroism and endurance and surviving on plain luck. Things weren’t perfect now, of course, but the city had moved on, and so had the Dragon Corps.
At least, what was left of it.
//download .zip//
Comments greatly appreciated! Enjoy and spread the love. :D