The two images above are the front cover and the tracklist of a fanmix I made for my fanfic of the same name. Way back in 2006 or so, I had this fanfic idea where I’d invert Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy’s social standing, and in the next couple of years, I refined that basic premise into a non-magical AU (short for “alternate universe”). Ron is a famous, wealthy model, and Draco is poorer and comes from a single-parent household (his father passing away in a car accident). The two know each other as classmates at Hogwarts University, and despite their opposite social standings, I tried to keep their personalities the same as they are in the original books. Meaning, that Ron is still a hot-headed, brash, but kind and loyal young man, and Draco remains to be prickly, snobby man with a cynical (and witty) outlook on life, and when these two meet, their personalities clash in every possible way. They eventually become friends and lovers through a series of events consisting of classical music, English literature, and tango.
After the fic was written, I made the fanmix, and that was where the abstraction happened. See, I cannot draw worth a hoot — however, I can use Photoshop to manipulate photos into digital art. Ergo, what I really wanted on the fanmix cover was a drawing of Ron and Draco, but that wasn’t going to be an option for me. So I had to stop and think about the story and figure out its true “essence”. Once I figured that out, I went on Google Images to find something that portrays the differences of the two blokes, but also signifies their coming together. And the photo below is what I ended up founding and loving to death, along with an Andy Warhol quote that also fit the essence of the fic.
Then came the real fun part of the music compilation. I broke down the fic into scenes, and I picked a song based on the scene’s mood and atmosphere and “renamed” the song to capture the scene. For an example — “The Strife” is a scene where Ron and Draco are first in together, and they are arguing over a literary point of view in their English class. I chose Dark Moor’s rendition of Vivaldi’s “Winter, Movement I” because the song is moody and slowly builds up until its conflict-filled melody burst at the climax. Instead of choosing the original orchestra version, I also went for Dark Moor’s more modern sound since the electric guitar takes over the violin solo, representing the AU-factor of the story. The rest of the fanmix is listed below with my notes from when I was planning it years ago!
“Proem”
Artie Shaw – Begin the Beguine (Opening where Ron strolls through the Campus, waving at people and enjoying the morning sun and the new day. He knows he’s happy, but he feels something is missing from his life and he wasn’t sure what.)“The Strife”
Antonio Vivaldi – Dark Moor – Winter, Movement I (Ron ends up strolling around too late, walks into his English class late and has to sit next to Draco, the only seat left. The class is having a discussion some literary thing, and the two of them head butt against each other in their theories on Hemingway (whether Hemingway was gay or not?))“Consonance and Dissonance”
Franz Liszt – La Campanella (Ron hears this in the music hallway, walks towards the source of the sounds, and sees it’s Draco performing it.)“Whimsicality”
Yiruma – Dream a Little Dream of Me (Ron thinks about ways to get Draco to notice him and realises he likes him. At that moment he is with Pansy having dinner or something.)“Hopelessly Zany”
Tales of Symphonia – Off-key (Ron tries to gain Draco’s attention and it rather fails.)“Conniving Strategy”
Chrono Trigger – Delightful Spekkio (Ron goes and talk to Pansy, who’s being difficult, and eventually gives him advices.)“Deliberation”
Carlos Gardel – Por Una Cabeza (For a tango scene. Pansy reveals that Draco likes Tangoing — while Pansy is a fan of jazz music and swing dancing, which is what influenced Ron into liking jazz.)“Ruminative”
Kanno Yoko – Memory of Fanelia (Draco invites Ron to his place for dinner, and Ron takes in the poverty that surrounds Draco, but realises that it’s a part of him and embraces Draco’s home and Narcissa’s loving (albeit very snarky and teasing) nature.)“Lamentation”
Junjou Romantica – Junsui Koigokoro (Have Arthur almost dies and Draco comes to comfort Ron because he lost his father years ago and can sympathise?)“Tranquil Affair”
Suikoden V – The Night Before the Decisive Battle ~Theme of a Moonlit Night~ (Ron and Draco are walking in the park like the romantics writers did and under the moonlight share their first kiss and yadada.)“Culmination”
October Sky – Main Theme (The pseudo-ending song for the fic. :) When they realise they do care for each other and blahblahblah.)“Finis”
Duke Ellington – Take the “A” Train (The real ending theme for the fic . . . it’s more upbeat than the opening theme because now Ron has everything he could ask for.)
This fanfic and fanmix holds a special place in my heart. It’s a story I’ve wanted to write and tell for a long time, so when I finally had the opportunity and the self-motivation to create it, I did. Doing this required a lot of planning and thinking on my part, and for me, abstracting is very handy when one wants to create something.