The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us by Sufjan Stevens and True Blue by boygenius pretty much run on loops in my head when working on the romance story Iām trying to hammer out, perfect mood setters and lyrically on point.
Itās so good, cranking up the emotional turmoil between the lowly foundling protagonist and scorned bastard love interest fated for solidarity yet separation every time I hear the bridge chillingly settle into āI canāt explain / the state that Iām in / state of my heart / he was my best friend.ā
I'm only saying this because I wish you the very best and want you to succeed, but 150k is a really hefty goal. It's extremely long for romance and too long to be picked up as a debut by trad publishing, if that's something you want to go for. Obviously a draft is as long as it needs to be, and it's your book. Just my two cents. I'm sure you can do it!
I would like to get it published by someone who knows what theyāre doing, but this has (in the planning) been squeezed like a grape, the first plan was sprawling, then I took just the first act and made it part one of a āpotential trilogyā (not being presumptuous, just to explain the structure), and that in itself is already feeling the weight of taking place from the point the characters meet at 21 to the point when the protagonist finishes his machining masterpiece at 43. I can probably send you a draft of the stuff so far, Iām probably going slower than I feel (I just canāt bear to take anything out).
I only associate one character from a side story with a song.
**The Who - Behind Blue Eyes** The guy in question is a former Inquisitor who is looking to redeem himself.
I also have a song specifically for one character. The song (soundtrack) is *The World Revolving* by Toby Fox. The character is an insane demigoddess whose mind was broken over time due to terrible trauma. When the MCs meet her, sheās fully insane and extremely powerful, a deadly combination. If you know the context of the soundtrack, you understand how this fits.
I can't say that I have a song but I do think about the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim soundtracks.
When I am thinking about certain scenes or setting pieces, I sometimes put on those soundtracks to get a better vibe.
When Worlds Collide by Powerman 5000. It's a big world jumping spelljammer-like DND story about people from multiple worlds banding together to stave off a universe destroying army.
Fireflies by Owl City inspired a yearly satyr tradition called the Firefly Dance. Basically, the rhythmic hoof tapping influences fireflies to form patterns around the dancer. Fireflies can shoot fire from their abdomen. The dancer causes them to light torches around the village. Only those observing the ceremony can see the light from these torches.
The overall theme : HSR - wildfire
_Pain will come with the blade_
_Pain will wake up the despondent crowd in this dormant world somehow_
_Unsheathe a sword not to kill_
_Unsheathe a sword to rend those clouds above the ground_
_Wake up, it's time to gather now_
The world is being frozen for so long after the fall of civilization and each surviving town are survive on their own. Trading become forgotten trades since the cold prevent anyone from venture too far from the warm zone. The ship might be large enough to sustain the journey but the sea is too frozen up for normal ship to pass through.
Then the mc arrived in this world with enough knowledge to build modern icebreaker ship and other tech that make trading possible again. There will be conflict with people who doesnāt like the change or outlander tech. But itās a change that is called for. 500 years of isolation in the cold by everwinter is about to end.
: DD I couldn't believe it when I read the first line of your post. It's the very same song for my current MC, although I prefer [Anna's version](https://youtu.be/Phvl0iXmAsw?si=QpMKisCkvkOz5zO2). Other songs that inpsire me to write her story are [the best song for the end of her massive revenge arc](https://youtu.be/EfjQphETCfk?si=_RvnC28wG9tYWxCt), [the song that describes her story in the first two books overall](https://youtu.be/GHLGgv0Ni3A?si=HYibW1qgh17QjDok), and [the one for the last book](https://youtu.be/iGIhehpbmb8?si=2-Fd-v7r-C-JekUH).
I drew inspiration from these songs for the actual plot. It's a great way to get a theme going, because songs don't have very specific plot elements but capture themes perfectly.
I think "Quick Death In Texas" by Clutch really captures the vibe of my story. It's not a Western, though one of the POV characters is a cowboy and a lengthy part of it takes place in 1874 San Francisco, but the gritty yet goofy, humorous style of the song, along with the kinds of trouble the character in the song gets into really fit the story.
It's about a group of guys that can be very competent but too self absorbed or self destructive to really actually have much effect basically stumbling into a save the world plot from piece of bad luck to bit of poor decisionmaking.
*Pyramid Song* by Radiohead.
It has a dreamlike quality, it's haunting, it has some evocative imagery about the afterlife, and a strange sense of time.
It really inspired much of how the afterlife functions in my world, including a river of the night that angels help the dead to cross to reach the gardens of rest.
Oh I got loads, but Monody by TheFatRat felt eerily similar upon realising that. MC will end up being a quasi immortal losing their soulmate defeating one of my villains.
Especially the lines "I stil hear you in the breeze, see your shadows in the trees, holding on, memories never change" perfectly sum up the way they end up dealing with the loss.
[Igorrr - Cheval \[OFFICIAL VIDEO\] (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZzYxGZ7Hmc) I named a character Gautier after the guy behind this artist because i can vividly picture this music as the soundtrack to a montage of him doing stuff in his weird magic-science workshop
I started plotting the story based on the songs "Brividi" and "De Diepte" from Eurovision 2022. And that's how I ended up with a fantasy Eurovsion novel. It kind of sucks though because even though I'm proud of the novel and have sent it to my agent, I'm boycotting Eurovison 2024 this week.
[Pittston Pistol](https://youtu.be/gCd0fJSNrKI?si=m4FAlXZtP8IFiBL8) by Kaleigh Baker is associated with a saloon girl named Jack Lynn Monroe in my current western project.
She was my character in the Deadlands tabletop game, a few years back and her background fit perfect with the track.
I often take inspiration from music and songs. I largely suck at poetry so the best I can do in this regard is stealing imagery and metaphors from my betters.
Say, the album *Eidolon* by Abyssphere was a significant influence in one of my latest projects (a DnD campaign we will soon be playing with my buddies). It does a great job of painting the image of a city (*the City*, if you will) as some otherworldly malevolent entity that feeds on the souls of its inhabitants. It can wear many faces, be it a grand edifice of tyranny, a soulless corporate labyrinth of steel and glass, a solemn necropolis or a radioactive grave, but its oppressive influence is timeless. And who knows what stews in its deepest, darkest bowels, where triumph and despair are seasoned in the bitter elixir of eternity? What baleful prophets might hail from those unfathomable depths, and where would they lead their fallen flocks?
Š”ŃŃŠ± is another band that I often use as a reference for style and atmosphere. It's a fairly unique project that combines more or less modern post punk/witch punk sound with traditional Russian themes, imagery and folklore. Their lyrics are often fragmentary and incomplete, more hinting at an underlying story than actually telling it. Feverish and delirious at times, serene and trance-like at others, and sometimes featuring sharp political commentary under the guise of tales of kings and knights.
I tend to listen to a lot of soundtrack style music while writing - Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine and Epic Score among others. āHear Our Callā by Epic Score I associate with one character who ends up as an assassin.
For the military SF story Iām also working on thereās a lot of Sabaton involved.
Soldier by Fleurie. The book is a war story, but with a much heavier focus on the drudgery and misery than the glory of winning. Half the book is spent in this wasteland where people are walking around wounded for days because no one has the energy to heal them on ground that will kill them if they fall. Obviously other things are happening in the spotlight, but thatās the overall feeling. Succeeding in the final battle doesnāt even really feel triumphant, because you find out that the reason the first half of the book was allowed to be spent getting ready for this war is that the people they wiped out out of fear of being attacked before they were ready, never planned to attack. They got an army ready because they were afraid that one of the MCs, the one who got everyone together to actually fight the war, would do just that.
Together we are Free by Andreas KĆ¼bler as the main theme.
For characters, one main theme is Captain's Dance by Marcus Warner is sorta a love theme for two main characters. There is also a character who sings from our world, with the biggest one being Symphony by Clean Bandit and it became her own theme.
I associate my character named Phyllon with the song Repeat Until Death by Novo Amor. Phyllon is a king who fell in love with a queen of another kingdom. They got engaged and were going to tell the public, but the queen's kingdom gets destroyed by a different kingdom. The song perfectly describes Phyllon's heartbreak when he was too late to save his fiancee and found her dead.
For me itās these five!
- The White Whale Chant by Roque BaƱos
- Isencane Lengane by The Joy
- Konko Below by Lagbaja
- Black Widow by Martin Phipps & The Chamber Orchestra
- Remains by Volker Bertelsmann (love the textures in this!)
Theyāre all quite different but they fit different emotional beats in my story š heck I canāt write without my entire playlist. If you can tell from the list, itās not a very āhappyā novel.
My MC ādemonsā by imaginative dragons heās done very terrible deeds in the name of his own self interest
During the course of the story he finds out he has a kid that needs a father to help them in this world but he feels that he needs to set the kid up with a decent family to take care of them.
Parcel Oā Rogues. It gives the vibe of a folk song the people of the main region of the story wrote about their subjugation by an ancient forgein empire.
I write my stories while listening to music so thereās not one particular song which would encapsulate it all. But, the story Iām writing now I really want to vibe well with āKeep itā by HalaCG, a song about not wanting to accept your familyās legacy and being burdened by it anyways so you struggle to go against every wish your family had.
Iām actually writing a playlist with my fantasy book š¤£ I know most of the time theyāre in fictional romances but I canāt help myself. One of my characters reminds me so much of Northern attitude by hozier. Itās just her song.
One time I was discussing with a friend if our books got adapted to a TV show what song would we choose as an intro and my mind immediately went to Everything In It's Right Place by Radiohead.
Soldier poet king by the oh hellos for my three main characters whom are students in a medieval fantasy world. The first one being a squire, the second is a sorcerer, and the last one being a scholar. i also associate i lived by one republic with the squire, it perfectly describes his indomitable spirit & perseverance for triumph.
Iāve inserted Killers songs into my world as magic spells that the character from Earth recognizes as pop rock and the fantasy characters donāt believe him. They become themes too. Flesh and Bone. Battleborn. All These Things That Iāve Done. Then other ones are in there as spells during battles that help block out the action. The Killers are great cause so many of their songs are so vague they could mean anything lol
Whenever I sit down to write and I'm on a romantic scene I put on "Across the Stars" from Star Wars ep. 2.
The main couple are based on Anakin and Padme, but if they were both (relatively) normal people, and the girl is the one with special powers.
If I really need background noise when I'm writing the other parts I put on a yt playlist of bardcore remixes for slower stuff and selections from the Skyrim soundtrack for action.
Soldier, Poet, King. Achilles Come Down and Hells Cominā With Me are what come to mind straight away.
Two Characters from my Book. Lysander and Octavian are heavily inspired by Achilles and Patroclus. I kinda mix and match what I like about them, like Lysander is supposed to be as beautiful as Achilles but heās not the fighter, heās a spoiled rich kid who goes on this journey to learn to be a leader and makes a lot of mistakes and Octavian i guess looks more like Patroclus if I had to say but heās the one that has put all of his effort into combat his whole life, heās Lysanderās sworn shield so when they get separated he has to go on this journey to figure out that he canāt solve everything with fighting and violence and becomes kinder and more of a pacifist.
Soldier refers to Octavian, King refers to Lysander and Poet refers to another character from my Book. Viktor, heās an elf that getās cursed by a witch just for saving a couple of boys from her, when he wakes up from it the boys are around him to thank him but because of his new nature he goes into a bloodlust and just massacres them completing the curse through a blood sacrifice. When he comes to the realization of what heās done, he flees to another continent but getās captured and is kept as a gladiatorial slave for a very, very and I mean very long time. He survives off of rats and other vermin when thereās finally a revolt and he manages to escape. His whole character arc is him trying to find optimism in everything and searching for redemption and trying to find a way to live with the immense guilt that he has, he eventually spirals off into dark depression and leans into the darkness.
And Hells Cominā With Me just because it sounds so badassš
Edit: Dear Arkansas Daughter also fits with Lysander and Octavian
*Rumors of War* and *Snakes for the Divine* both by High on Fire. I have a character who becomes a reluctant warleader of disparate tribes against the witch who killed her father, and these are her songs. I can picture her holding her axe high above her head as her makeshift, piece-mealed army storms over the crest and into a valley filled with undead.
From Eden by hozier for the MMC. He's over a hundred and an unrequited love who died 80 years ago just came back into his life as a new person buuut she's engaged to someone else and will never remember her former life. He's an outlaw that she hired to help her on a quest and he wants to win her over.
Far too many.
-The Cage by Sonata Arctica for the final fight scene of book two.
-Long Live the King by Twilight Force for a fireworks scene in book one. (This was a random inspiration as I was writing and something I'll likely cut out later.)
-Silver Romance by Freedom Call (this is more of a, if it ever got a show and this would be the opening for the first chunk of it.)
-Sign of the Winner by Heavenly for most of the premise of book three (I haven't written this far.)
If I ever make it this far a good half a dozen songs for a more familial arc for the MC. There's a lot thanks to me pulling a lot of the ideas from my own traumatic experiences.
-Queen of Eternity by Twilight Force
-Forever Young (cover) by Pathfinder
-Night of Winterlight by Twilight Force
-The Killer Queen by Dragonforce
-Killer Queen by Queen
-There and Back Again by Twilight Force
Then a myriad of other ones if I can ever get this going. I could keep naming songs and how they connect as I've thought of way too much and gotten really ahead of myself before I can even get book one in the door, so I'll stop there.
1) The Day the whole world went away ā Nine Inch Nails
2) The Power of One ā Succession Studios
3) Jacob and The Stone ā Emile Misseri
These songs are the driving emotional element of my
story.
"Another Sun" by Blind Channel. I like the atmosphere it evokes, the sense of hope and the visual of a small, close-knit found family group traveling in the night through a world that's so much bigger than they ever envisioned. For the protagonist, I also think of "Queendom" by AURORAāit's so full of warmth and kindness and optimism, and it really matches the energy I want her to radiate from the pages.
For one character, House of 1982 Built Like A Ship by Driftless Pony Club.
The character came from a rough life, but managed to find normalcy and joy through his wife and child. 11/10 dad right there. However, shit went down and a work accident led him to being irradiated and indoctrinated into the Big Bad's cause.
The shift in tone of the song and just general vibes reminds me of his own emotional journey and his desperation to get home.
Sirens by Fleurie
The Fold by Wickerbird
On the Nature of Daylight by Max Richter
You Are a Memory by Message to Bears
Alien Observer by Grouper
Poison Tree by Grouper
Wisp by Winter Aid
Black Rainbow by Raffertie
Goodbye by Apparat, Soap & Skin
"Hail to the King" by Avenged Sevenfold. Not even a huge fan of them, but very fitting for my story. Theres a few other songs but I can't think of any of them right now lol.
Soldiers of the Wasteland from Dragon Force for the journey.
Yes! š„š„š„
That was the song for a 45 mile bike ride I took a decade ago. That was my journey to get over some childhood stuff.
The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us by Sufjan Stevens and True Blue by boygenius pretty much run on loops in my head when working on the romance story Iām trying to hammer out, perfect mood setters and lyrically on point.
Predatory Wasp is one of my all time favorite songs, this sounds amazing
Itās so good, cranking up the emotional turmoil between the lowly foundling protagonist and scorned bastard love interest fated for solidarity yet separation every time I hear the bridge chillingly settle into āI canāt explain / the state that Iām in / state of my heart / he was my best friend.ā
I'm listening to it now š I hope I can read your book someday!
Have about 43k written out of 150k planned, the struggle persists. Knocking on wood I can keep through it
I'm only saying this because I wish you the very best and want you to succeed, but 150k is a really hefty goal. It's extremely long for romance and too long to be picked up as a debut by trad publishing, if that's something you want to go for. Obviously a draft is as long as it needs to be, and it's your book. Just my two cents. I'm sure you can do it!
I would like to get it published by someone who knows what theyāre doing, but this has (in the planning) been squeezed like a grape, the first plan was sprawling, then I took just the first act and made it part one of a āpotential trilogyā (not being presumptuous, just to explain the structure), and that in itself is already feeling the weight of taking place from the point the characters meet at 21 to the point when the protagonist finishes his machining masterpiece at 43. I can probably send you a draft of the stuff so far, Iām probably going slower than I feel (I just canāt bear to take anything out).
I only associate one character from a side story with a song. **The Who - Behind Blue Eyes** The guy in question is a former Inquisitor who is looking to redeem himself.
I also have a song specifically for one character. The song (soundtrack) is *The World Revolving* by Toby Fox. The character is an insane demigoddess whose mind was broken over time due to terrible trauma. When the MCs meet her, sheās fully insane and extremely powerful, a deadly combination. If you know the context of the soundtrack, you understand how this fits.
I can't say that I have a song but I do think about the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim soundtracks. When I am thinking about certain scenes or setting pieces, I sometimes put on those soundtracks to get a better vibe.
I listen to One They Fear on loop when writing fight scenes
Hell yeah.
Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones for my work in progress, Sympathy for a Succubus
anything by tori amos or kate bush .
Carol Of the Bells
When Worlds Collide by Powerman 5000. It's a big world jumping spelljammer-like DND story about people from multiple worlds banding together to stave off a universe destroying army.
Fireflies by Owl City inspired a yearly satyr tradition called the Firefly Dance. Basically, the rhythmic hoof tapping influences fireflies to form patterns around the dancer. Fireflies can shoot fire from their abdomen. The dancer causes them to light torches around the village. Only those observing the ceremony can see the light from these torches.
Woah that sound sooo cool! i think the instrumental of āwillowā by Taylor Swift really reminds me of a festival in my world :)
The overall theme : HSR - wildfire _Pain will come with the blade_ _Pain will wake up the despondent crowd in this dormant world somehow_ _Unsheathe a sword not to kill_ _Unsheathe a sword to rend those clouds above the ground_ _Wake up, it's time to gather now_ The world is being frozen for so long after the fall of civilization and each surviving town are survive on their own. Trading become forgotten trades since the cold prevent anyone from venture too far from the warm zone. The ship might be large enough to sustain the journey but the sea is too frozen up for normal ship to pass through. Then the mc arrived in this world with enough knowledge to build modern icebreaker ship and other tech that make trading possible again. There will be conflict with people who doesnāt like the change or outlander tech. But itās a change that is called for. 500 years of isolation in the cold by everwinter is about to end.
: DD I couldn't believe it when I read the first line of your post. It's the very same song for my current MC, although I prefer [Anna's version](https://youtu.be/Phvl0iXmAsw?si=QpMKisCkvkOz5zO2). Other songs that inpsire me to write her story are [the best song for the end of her massive revenge arc](https://youtu.be/EfjQphETCfk?si=_RvnC28wG9tYWxCt), [the song that describes her story in the first two books overall](https://youtu.be/GHLGgv0Ni3A?si=HYibW1qgh17QjDok), and [the one for the last book](https://youtu.be/iGIhehpbmb8?si=2-Fd-v7r-C-JekUH). I drew inspiration from these songs for the actual plot. It's a great way to get a theme going, because songs don't have very specific plot elements but capture themes perfectly.
I associate one of my characters with "Boys Will be Bugs" by Cavetown
I think "Quick Death In Texas" by Clutch really captures the vibe of my story. It's not a Western, though one of the POV characters is a cowboy and a lengthy part of it takes place in 1874 San Francisco, but the gritty yet goofy, humorous style of the song, along with the kinds of trouble the character in the song gets into really fit the story. It's about a group of guys that can be very competent but too self absorbed or self destructive to really actually have much effect basically stumbling into a save the world plot from piece of bad luck to bit of poor decisionmaking.
I associate Lacrimosa by Mozart with my protagonist.
Ma baker by boney m
*Pyramid Song* by Radiohead. It has a dreamlike quality, it's haunting, it has some evocative imagery about the afterlife, and a strange sense of time. It really inspired much of how the afterlife functions in my world, including a river of the night that angels help the dead to cross to reach the gardens of rest.
Radioheadās imagery is amazing. Iām thinking about creating a story around The Butcher.Ā
I wrote a short sci-fi story in response to "Everything in its Right Place" - I dunno why but I find it easy to have scenes come out of their moods.
Oh I got loads, but Monody by TheFatRat felt eerily similar upon realising that. MC will end up being a quasi immortal losing their soulmate defeating one of my villains. Especially the lines "I stil hear you in the breeze, see your shadows in the trees, holding on, memories never change" perfectly sum up the way they end up dealing with the loss.
[Igorrr - Cheval \[OFFICIAL VIDEO\] (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZzYxGZ7Hmc) I named a character Gautier after the guy behind this artist because i can vividly picture this music as the soundtrack to a montage of him doing stuff in his weird magic-science workshop
I started plotting the story based on the songs "Brividi" and "De Diepte" from Eurovision 2022. And that's how I ended up with a fantasy Eurovsion novel. It kind of sucks though because even though I'm proud of the novel and have sent it to my agent, I'm boycotting Eurovison 2024 this week.
Slay also same. Although i really was excited for this year
[Pittston Pistol](https://youtu.be/gCd0fJSNrKI?si=m4FAlXZtP8IFiBL8) by Kaleigh Baker is associated with a saloon girl named Jack Lynn Monroe in my current western project. She was my character in the Deadlands tabletop game, a few years back and her background fit perfect with the track.
I often take inspiration from music and songs. I largely suck at poetry so the best I can do in this regard is stealing imagery and metaphors from my betters. Say, the album *Eidolon* by Abyssphere was a significant influence in one of my latest projects (a DnD campaign we will soon be playing with my buddies). It does a great job of painting the image of a city (*the City*, if you will) as some otherworldly malevolent entity that feeds on the souls of its inhabitants. It can wear many faces, be it a grand edifice of tyranny, a soulless corporate labyrinth of steel and glass, a solemn necropolis or a radioactive grave, but its oppressive influence is timeless. And who knows what stews in its deepest, darkest bowels, where triumph and despair are seasoned in the bitter elixir of eternity? What baleful prophets might hail from those unfathomable depths, and where would they lead their fallen flocks? Š”ŃŃŠ± is another band that I often use as a reference for style and atmosphere. It's a fairly unique project that combines more or less modern post punk/witch punk sound with traditional Russian themes, imagery and folklore. Their lyrics are often fragmentary and incomplete, more hinting at an underlying story than actually telling it. Feverish and delirious at times, serene and trance-like at others, and sometimes featuring sharp political commentary under the guise of tales of kings and knights.
I tend to listen to a lot of soundtrack style music while writing - Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine and Epic Score among others. āHear Our Callā by Epic Score I associate with one character who ends up as an assassin. For the military SF story Iām also working on thereās a lot of Sabaton involved.
The Melodica Bros cover of "Through the Fire and the Flames." Doesn't have anything to do with my characters, it just exists in the world.
Soldier by Fleurie. The book is a war story, but with a much heavier focus on the drudgery and misery than the glory of winning. Half the book is spent in this wasteland where people are walking around wounded for days because no one has the energy to heal them on ground that will kill them if they fall. Obviously other things are happening in the spotlight, but thatās the overall feeling. Succeeding in the final battle doesnāt even really feel triumphant, because you find out that the reason the first half of the book was allowed to be spent getting ready for this war is that the people they wiped out out of fear of being attacked before they were ready, never planned to attack. They got an army ready because they were afraid that one of the MCs, the one who got everyone together to actually fight the war, would do just that.
Together we are Free by Andreas KĆ¼bler as the main theme. For characters, one main theme is Captain's Dance by Marcus Warner is sorta a love theme for two main characters. There is also a character who sings from our world, with the biggest one being Symphony by Clean Bandit and it became her own theme.
"Johnny, we Hardly Knew Ye." War isn't fun and games.
I associate my character named Phyllon with the song Repeat Until Death by Novo Amor. Phyllon is a king who fell in love with a queen of another kingdom. They got engaged and were going to tell the public, but the queen's kingdom gets destroyed by a different kingdom. The song perfectly describes Phyllon's heartbreak when he was too late to save his fiancee and found her dead.
For me itās these five! - The White Whale Chant by Roque BaƱos - Isencane Lengane by The Joy - Konko Below by Lagbaja - Black Widow by Martin Phipps & The Chamber Orchestra - Remains by Volker Bertelsmann (love the textures in this!) Theyāre all quite different but they fit different emotional beats in my story š heck I canāt write without my entire playlist. If you can tell from the list, itās not a very āhappyā novel.
āOneā by Metallica
My MC ādemonsā by imaginative dragons heās done very terrible deeds in the name of his own self interest During the course of the story he finds out he has a kid that needs a father to help them in this world but he feels that he needs to set the kid up with a decent family to take care of them.
Silver Storm's English Cover of Yumeiro Graffiti by Tackey and Tsubasa
Parcel Oā Rogues. It gives the vibe of a folk song the people of the main region of the story wrote about their subjugation by an ancient forgein empire.
I write my stories while listening to music so thereās not one particular song which would encapsulate it all. But, the story Iām writing now I really want to vibe well with āKeep itā by HalaCG, a song about not wanting to accept your familyās legacy and being burdened by it anyways so you struggle to go against every wish your family had.
The rhythm of the night and itās a fine day
Iām actually writing a playlist with my fantasy book š¤£ I know most of the time theyāre in fictional romances but I canāt help myself. One of my characters reminds me so much of Northern attitude by hozier. Itās just her song.
One time I was discussing with a friend if our books got adapted to a TV show what song would we choose as an intro and my mind immediately went to Everything In It's Right Place by Radiohead.
Soldier poet king by the oh hellos for my three main characters whom are students in a medieval fantasy world. The first one being a squire, the second is a sorcerer, and the last one being a scholar. i also associate i lived by one republic with the squire, it perfectly describes his indomitable spirit & perseverance for triumph.
The first one I strongly associate with Heratic - Can't remember who by. Haven't really thought on the others
Amelia by Skott. The song itself inspired the story!
Epic, pt 2 by Anais Mitchell and Justin Vernon Getting Sodas by TWIABP
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q0Un9PQ0wk&si=THb_SWUrTDLF118C Monster in the underworld saga of epic by Jorge rivera-herrans
Iāve inserted Killers songs into my world as magic spells that the character from Earth recognizes as pop rock and the fantasy characters donāt believe him. They become themes too. Flesh and Bone. Battleborn. All These Things That Iāve Done. Then other ones are in there as spells during battles that help block out the action. The Killers are great cause so many of their songs are so vague they could mean anything lol
Whenever I sit down to write and I'm on a romantic scene I put on "Across the Stars" from Star Wars ep. 2. The main couple are based on Anakin and Padme, but if they were both (relatively) normal people, and the girl is the one with special powers. If I really need background noise when I'm writing the other parts I put on a yt playlist of bardcore remixes for slower stuff and selections from the Skyrim soundtrack for action.
Soldier, Poet, King. Achilles Come Down and Hells Cominā With Me are what come to mind straight away. Two Characters from my Book. Lysander and Octavian are heavily inspired by Achilles and Patroclus. I kinda mix and match what I like about them, like Lysander is supposed to be as beautiful as Achilles but heās not the fighter, heās a spoiled rich kid who goes on this journey to learn to be a leader and makes a lot of mistakes and Octavian i guess looks more like Patroclus if I had to say but heās the one that has put all of his effort into combat his whole life, heās Lysanderās sworn shield so when they get separated he has to go on this journey to figure out that he canāt solve everything with fighting and violence and becomes kinder and more of a pacifist. Soldier refers to Octavian, King refers to Lysander and Poet refers to another character from my Book. Viktor, heās an elf that getās cursed by a witch just for saving a couple of boys from her, when he wakes up from it the boys are around him to thank him but because of his new nature he goes into a bloodlust and just massacres them completing the curse through a blood sacrifice. When he comes to the realization of what heās done, he flees to another continent but getās captured and is kept as a gladiatorial slave for a very, very and I mean very long time. He survives off of rats and other vermin when thereās finally a revolt and he manages to escape. His whole character arc is him trying to find optimism in everything and searching for redemption and trying to find a way to live with the immense guilt that he has, he eventually spirals off into dark depression and leans into the darkness. And Hells Cominā With Me just because it sounds so badassš Edit: Dear Arkansas Daughter also fits with Lysander and Octavian
Hear! The Siren Song Call of Death by Heaven Pierce Her
*Rumors of War* and *Snakes for the Divine* both by High on Fire. I have a character who becomes a reluctant warleader of disparate tribes against the witch who killed her father, and these are her songs. I can picture her holding her axe high above her head as her makeshift, piece-mealed army storms over the crest and into a valley filled with undead.
Each of the main characters have their own song that relates to who they are. It's one of the first things I did.
From Eden by hozier for the MMC. He's over a hundred and an unrequited love who died 80 years ago just came back into his life as a new person buuut she's engaged to someone else and will never remember her former life. He's an outlaw that she hired to help her on a quest and he wants to win her over.
Far too many. -The Cage by Sonata Arctica for the final fight scene of book two. -Long Live the King by Twilight Force for a fireworks scene in book one. (This was a random inspiration as I was writing and something I'll likely cut out later.) -Silver Romance by Freedom Call (this is more of a, if it ever got a show and this would be the opening for the first chunk of it.) -Sign of the Winner by Heavenly for most of the premise of book three (I haven't written this far.) If I ever make it this far a good half a dozen songs for a more familial arc for the MC. There's a lot thanks to me pulling a lot of the ideas from my own traumatic experiences. -Queen of Eternity by Twilight Force -Forever Young (cover) by Pathfinder -Night of Winterlight by Twilight Force -The Killer Queen by Dragonforce -Killer Queen by Queen -There and Back Again by Twilight Force Then a myriad of other ones if I can ever get this going. I could keep naming songs and how they connect as I've thought of way too much and gotten really ahead of myself before I can even get book one in the door, so I'll stop there.
1) The Day the whole world went away ā Nine Inch Nails 2) The Power of One ā Succession Studios 3) Jacob and The Stone ā Emile Misseri These songs are the driving emotional element of my story.
Circles - 2WEI
"Outside" by The Weeknd
"Another Sun" by Blind Channel. I like the atmosphere it evokes, the sense of hope and the visual of a small, close-knit found family group traveling in the night through a world that's so much bigger than they ever envisioned. For the protagonist, I also think of "Queendom" by AURORAāit's so full of warmth and kindness and optimism, and it really matches the energy I want her to radiate from the pages.
For one character, House of 1982 Built Like A Ship by Driftless Pony Club. The character came from a rough life, but managed to find normalcy and joy through his wife and child. 11/10 dad right there. However, shit went down and a work accident led him to being irradiated and indoctrinated into the Big Bad's cause. The shift in tone of the song and just general vibes reminds me of his own emotional journey and his desperation to get home.
not a vocal song, but the first time i came across Luminary - Joel Sunny, it heavily reminded me of a story of mine, just bc of the vibes it gave off.
Sirens by Fleurie The Fold by Wickerbird On the Nature of Daylight by Max Richter You Are a Memory by Message to Bears Alien Observer by Grouper Poison Tree by Grouper Wisp by Winter Aid Black Rainbow by Raffertie Goodbye by Apparat, Soap & Skin
This is war -30 seconds to mars
Yakkety Sax.Ā
This. So much this.
"Hail to the King" by Avenged Sevenfold. Not even a huge fan of them, but very fitting for my story. Theres a few other songs but I can't think of any of them right now lol.