There are certain 'stock moments' in the Barlow's universe which are visited frequently throughout all of the stories which tend to reappear due to the fact that they really form the fabric of the Barlow's Music Shop AU's world: stuffy summer afternoons at the shop, driving in Jason's car in the early evening, late night conversations in half-lit rooms and rainy nights in. To help set the tone for each of these scenes I have a few set songs which I always return to, no matter what the story, to help get my mind in the right place for the combinations of weather, characters, time of day and tone - and I thought I would share those in the form of Mixtape Specials, posted on the Barlow's Blog. So, to start things off, it's one of my favourite set scenes: Jason and Howard's apartment late on a rainy night. Usually dimly lit and always dreamily peaceful, the apartment's late rainy night scenes are always some of my favourites to write and often include some intense moments of emotion, both romantic and otherwise, so the music has to be gauged just right for me to be able to really get a feel for that combination of calm and heaviness which often characterises these moments.
Rain-Spattered Conversations In Half-Lit Rooms Late At Night:
A Howard & Jason Mixtape Special
"...The lights outside the window were reflecting in Jason’s eyes. The city beyond seemed to glimmer and wink, the lights glinting and glittering brightly and their reflections dancing across the Salford glass, blurring and jarring as they hit the beads of water left behind on the windows from a late evening rainstorm. It was neither late nor early, and the city was quiet – though the peace was given life by the distant flickers of cars and buses speeding by, everything looking somehow unreal from so high up, like toys being whizzed about by some invisible child. Howard loved this time of night, loved the thick magic of it. It was melancholy and twinkling – still but not quite completely...." - Not Conducive To Marrying You, Chapter 10
Love is a ruthless game unless you play it good and right
- State of Grace, Taylor Swift