Archive of Our Own

Playlist & Liner Notes

1. Exile Vilify — The National
   • To start us off with Eliot an exile in his own world, vilified as the guard dog of a brutal king. The song has melodic elements of hope and lyrics of despair, questioning again and again even as the answers are intended to frustrate. Beneath it all, however? Tenacity.
2. This Town, Your Grave — Innerpartysystem
   • A variation on despair, This Town, Your Grave is the song tied most strongly to King Moreau. Eliot’s forsaken, the one with his hands soaked in blood, and trapped as he is--Graced and cursed with it, unable to change.
3. Grinder’s Blues — Poets of the Fall
   • Somehow, though, Eliot still retains a spark...a spark that could lead to something bigger if allowed to be fanned. He’s under the thumb of the Man, alone with his demons and tired of his own nature, but the whole despair thing? Unsustainable. As the song says, “I’ve gotta find my way out of Hell.”
4. The Army Inside — Lacuna Coil
   • Eliot becomes the Council. A one-man-army. He couldn’t wait another moment, and started his campaign. The Army Inside is a song of determination, the point where desperation turns into resolve.
5. Good Morning Moon - Marian Call
   • Parker’s song! Eliot meets a pair of thieves in an unexpected place. Lighter than the rest of the songs, brighter, more playful, Good Morning Moon injects a note of glorious possibility and a whole new world of nocturnal shenanigans. Who is to say they’re falling if they miss the ground?
6. Demons — Imagine Dragons
   • Eliot, with his demons, is absolutely 100% uncertain about these new people and how they should be interacting with him. He’s Moreau’s rabid dog, and his Grace will send him straight to Hell. His demons hide in plane sight, you can see them in his eyes. But then...he’s not the only one, is he?
7. Daughter of My Sins — Chris Hadfield
   • Now that Eliot’s met Parker and Hardison, he knows, however, that he’s reaching the point of no return, that there will be an endpoint in the rapidly approaching future. Now that he’s an adult and has sorted out right from wrong (as best he can, considering his lifetime under the king’s abusive control), his continued sorrow is directly tied to his continued action (and inaction).
8. Blood on my Hands — The Used
   • Honestly, Eliot’s baffled that Parker and Hardison don’t see what kind of monster he is. They’re challenging him to shuck Moreau’s yoke, and the way they look at him… Blood on my Hands is a little sharper, a little more harder, a little more rock’n’roll with an edge of metal. The last gasp of Eliot bucking the path he’d decided on when he decided he wanted to change.
9. Up The Wolves — The Mountain Goats
   • Eliot accepts the others, and accepts that he’s doing this. His past is...fuckin’ awful, but maybe...he can do better. He could get out. Maybe. No. Yes. Yes, he’s going to absolutely do better and lay waste to his king and all the others. The wolf will return and bare his teeth and he’s going to be ready to fucking bite the hand that’s struck him again and again. Former regrets aside, Up The Wolves is a promise of his future destruction.
10. Lions! — LIGHTS
    • The ending note of triumph, where Eliot delivers a resounding fuck you to Moreau. Eliot’s been forged in the flames of his demons. He’s learned how to stand, to get up off his knees, and he’s not afraid anymore. He’s ready for whatever challenge, and he motherfuckin’ welcomes them.
11. Home — Phillip Phillips
    • Hardison’s song, Home is the invitation to the family he’s found. Eliot’s lost, and has been lost, and could be lost again, but he can always be found. He’s not alone anymore, demons be damned. They’re in this together.