The Fics are Aliiiiive with the Sound of Muuuuusic

[WildBoots]

I've threatened to make floated the idea of this thread before, and now the time has come. Fics are usually mostly text-based, but we are complex beings with multiple senses!! 😤 This is the place to procrastinate and share anything musical that relates to your projects.

You've got a couple of different options here (and you can do more than one):

1. Talk about how you use music when you write! Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all?

2. Describe your fic with music. It could be a song per chapter or scene or character, or maybe there's one song that summarizes your entire fic.

3. Share custom music created for your fic! Is there a story behind how it was made?

4. Talk about what would happen if some Broadway hit-maker scooped up your fic and turned it into a script. What songs would be in it? Describe a dance number/dance battle?

5. If you characters started a band, what would it be called, what kind of music would they play, and what role would each character play?

Have fun!

 

[NebulaDreams]

1. Talk about how you use music when you write! Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all:

Hmm, I usually listen to pretty mellow/ambient stuff when I write, since I don't like it to be too intrusive. Though I think a lot about all the different songs that fit the vibes of my fics, and have made playlists for characters and stories before, either to coincide with one song per chapter, or to describe the character's overall arc and emotional journey, using lots of different genres.

2. Describe your fic with music. It could be a song per chapter or scene or character, or maybe there's one song that summarizes your entire fic.

Ooh, I have quite a bit to choose from here. I think stuff like dream pop would fit the vibes of The Curious and the Shiny and I, Isobel since they're both slice of life stories, so stuff like Sweet Trip, Beach House, Men I Trust, etc. The Inalienable Dreamless is actually named after a song/album of the same name by grindcore band Discordance Axis, which I chose because it covers the subject of dreams and the protag's desire to sleep without having nightmares or waking up, and because it's just a cool name. That and I imagine it playing in the first scene where everything is on fire.

4. Talk about what would happen if some Broadway hit-maker scooped up your fic and turned it into a script. What songs would be in it? Describe a dance number/dance battle?

The Curious and the Shiny already wears some of its film influences on its sleeve, especially since the main character is a film buff herself, so it's not too far of a stretch to imagine TCATS as a musical. Though I think it would be less of a traditional musical where characters burst out into song, but I could imagine it being like Tarzan where original songs with vocals supplement the scenes, though it might as well just be a regular film with an original soundtrack.

I, Isobel, however, probably fits the musical format better. The songs can heighten/support the emotions the characters are going through, and it can be used as a device where it takes place in the heads of the characters who are imagining a more exciting scenario, like La La Land. I haven't exactly expanded on it yet, but there is a side to Isobel that likes dancing, so there is precedent for battles in the fic to be turned into dances, maybe like West Side Story.

 

[WildBoots]

Of course I'm gonna play my own game. 😎

1. Talk about how you use music when you write! Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all?

My playlists have playlists, (help me, I'm being subsumed by playlists) and they vary wildly between projects. Spring is all soft and dreamy indie singer-songwriters. Divides is a lot of angry guitar riffs and grungy electronic. My contest entry was the "Community" album by Kinnship, which I didn't realize is (judges look away) a Christian group, but that turned out to be oddly fitting.

I've also been known to listen to one song on repeat for days on end. Most recently it was "deep end" by lykke li, but that's not gonna cut it for the next scenes, so I'm questing for a new one now. 😤

2. Describe your fic with music. It could be a song per chapter or scene or character, or maybe there's one song that summarizes your entire fic.

The "soundtrack" of my fics is part of how double-check my arcs/outline! It's also one of my favorite ways to procrastinate!

Spoiler: Spring

Prologue - Fade In / Fade Out (acoustic) - Abbey Road
1: Green - White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes / Canvas - Imogen Heap
2: The Volunteer - The Trip - Still Corners
3: Bygone - Spring Song - Laura Veirs / Everything in its Right Place - Radiohead
4: Visitations - No Moon - Iron and Wine / Underwater / HANA
5: The Dead - White Winter Hymnal - Birdy / Tyrfing - Danheim / The Healing - Bloc Party
6: Backbone - Battle on the Beach - Trevor Morris
7: Shouganai - Soft Yellow - Featherbeds / Pharaoh (1987 remix) - flora cash
8: The Threshold - Adventure of a Lifetime (cover) - Zander
9: Pantheon - Eats the Light - Lotus
10: The Fluke - American Dreams - From Indian Lakes
Interlude: Compass - Verd Min - Eivor
11: The Mirror - Rat Race - James Tillman / Familiar - Agnes Obel

Spoiler: Continental Divides

Overall: Fight for Life - El Perro del Mar

1: The Dive - Shadow Boxer - Fiona Apple / Night Creeper - The Blackwater Fever
2: Testing Grounds - A Gentle Awakening - JD McPherson
3: Red Light - Roxanne - The Police / Street Fighting Man - Rage Against the Machine / Guerrilla Radio (cover) - Brass Against
4: Black and Blue - Imagine (Cover) - A Perfect Circle
5: Boots on the Ground - Step Ahead - UNEQUAL / Double Dark - Wildhood
6: Ships in the Night - The Boat (Stockholm) - Reflections / Salt - Lucy Swann
7: Stainless Steel - Easy - Son Lux / The Orb - Emile Mosseri
8: Oil and Water - Ninth Wave - Indukti / Fake - RedHook
9: Fault Lines - Pleasant - SebastiAn / Breathe the Fire - The Soft Moon / Burning Lakes - Sadistik
10: Fool's Gold - AZAN - Losers / Crow (DJ Kicks) - Forest Swords
11: The Water Bearer - Oil Spill - Mob Rich / Blue - A Perfect Circle / Demolition Song - Lucy Swann
12: Salt of the Earth - Red Right Hand - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds / Delete, Delete - BOOTS
13: Iron Fist - Annihilation - Four Fists / TRUMPETS - _.BY.ALEXANDER
14: Liquid Courage - Aquaria - BOOTS / Pet - A Perfect Circle
15: Red as a Rose - Is That Your Life - Tricky / Blue Rainbow - Loma
16: Sowing Dragon's Teeth - Far From Any Road - Comaduster

---

Might come back for more later, who knows. Looking forward to trawling through everyone else's music at length.

 

[kyeugh]

Ooh, I have quite a bit to choose from here. I think stuff like dream pop would fit the vibes of The Curious and the Shiny and I, Isobel since they're both slice of life stories, so stuff like Sweet Trip, Beach House, Men I Trust, etc.

haha, aw, i wouldn't have pegged dream pop for TCaTS, but it's actually perfect. these groups are a great match.

Spoiler: Spring

Prologue - Fade In / Fade Out (acoustic) - Abbey Road
1: Green - White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes / Canvas - Imogen Heap
2: The Volunteer - The Trip - Still Corners
3: Bygone - Spring Song - Laura Veirs / Everything in its Right Place - Radiohead
4: Visitations - No Moon - Iron and Wine / Underwater / HANA
5: The Dead - White Winter Hymnal - Birdy / Tyrfing - Danheim / The Healing - Bloc Party
6: Backbone - Battle on the Beach - Trevor Morris
7: Shouganai - Soft Yellow - Featherbeds / Pharaoh (1987 remix) - flora cash
8: The Threshold - Adventure of a Lifetime (cover) - Zander
9: Pantheon - Eats the Light - Lotus
10: The Fluke - American Dreams - From Indian Lakes
Interlude: Compass - Verd Min - Eivor
11: The Mirror - Rat Race - James Tillman / Familiar - Agnes Obel

Spoiler: Continental Divides

Overall: Fight for Life - El Perro del Mar

1: The Dive - Shadow Boxer - Fiona Apple / Night Creeper - The Blackwater Fever
2: Testing Grounds - A Gentle Awakening - JD McPherson
3: Red Light - Roxanne - The Police / Street Fighting Man - Rage Against the Machine / Guerrilla Radio (cover) - Brass Against
4: Black and Blue - Imagine (Cover) - A Perfect Circle
5: Boots on the Ground - Step Ahead - UNEQUAL / Double Dark - Wildhood
6: Ships in the Night - The Boat (Stockholm) - Reflections / Salt - Lucy Swann
7: Stainless Steel - Easy - Son Lux / The Orb - Emile Mosseri
8: Oil and Water - Ninth Wave - Indukti / Fake - RedHook
9: Fault Lines - Pleasant - SebastiAn / Breathe the Fire - The Soft Moon / Burning Lakes - Sadistik
10: Fool's Gold - AZAN - Losers / Crow (DJ Kicks) - Forest Swords
11: The Water Bearer - Oil Spill - Mob Rich / Blue - A Perfect Circle / Demolition Song - Lucy Swann
12: Salt of the Earth - Red Right Hand - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds / Delete, Delete - BOOTS
13: Iron Fist - Annihilation - Four Fists / TRUMPETS - _.BY.ALEXANDER
14: Liquid Courage - Aquaria - BOOTS / Pet - A Perfect Circle
15: Red as a Rose - Is That Your Life - Tricky / Blue Rainbow - Loma
16: Sowing Dragon's Teeth - Far From Any Road - Comaduster

wow, i recognize... six? of these groups. i've been on the lookout for new music, so i'm gonna have to listen through this stuff for sure!

---

1. Talk about how you use music when you write! Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all?

i have a few productivity playlists that i listen to when i'm trying to Get Shit Done. it's all instrumental stuff since if i put on music with words, i'll get caught up singing, lol. a lot of math rock and jazz fusion, mostly, although pretty much any instrumental with a guitar solo that makes me go "hell yeah" gets stuck in there. this is the one i've had on rotation the last few months.

2. Describe your fic with music. It could be a song per chapter or scene or character, or maybe there's one song that summarizes your entire fic.

i've only started really paying attention to the lyrics of the music i listen to in the last couple months, so i'm historically pretty shit at doing this. but since re-booting wandersword, i've been trying to put together little playlists for each of my characters. it's harder than i thought! very scant so far, but here's what i got (please pardon the duplicate artists my music taste is narrow ok ):

ferry

• Emptiness - John Frusciante - [lyrics]
• Fortune 500 - Everything Everything - [lyrics]
• Mistakes - John Frusciante - [lyrics]

prim

• Show You a Body - Haley Heynderickx - [lyrics]
• Helen Burns - Flea - [lyrics]
• Grace - Jeff Buckley - [lyrics]

lauchs

• Don't Let It Bring You Down - Neil Young - [lyrics]
• Desire - Everything Everything - [lyrics]

 

[DeliriousAbsol]

This sounds so amazing! I may come back to this with more than one post when I've had a think about some of these questions!

The first one though! Playlists! I create a playlist for each 'fic I write. The music has to sound right, and I can spend AGES compiling a playlist. It has to have exactly the right theme. The Mainframe Saga is heavily cyberpunk, The Mask Behind the Monster was a very rock-themed with bands like Gotthard and Treat, using songs with lyrics that fit the theme along with tracks from the Sonic franchise. The End: Rekindled comprises of Christian rock and Pokemon remixes. I prefer instrumental tracks as they can allow my mind to wander more freely, but if the lyrics work then I'll use it.

It doesn't just end once I've made a playlist though. I can even come across music well into my writing project and it gets added to my established list. (Yesterday, for example, I found Dark Tide by Scandroid and it was just perfect for the interaction I'd written earlier this week. So even though that's been and gone, the song is now on my playlist for Rekindled XD)

For those interested:
Scandroid- Dark Tide

My stories often end up with a theme-song. The End: Rekindled's 'main theme' has remained the same since my first write-up of it.

Thousand Foot Krutch - Courtesy Call

It just... works.

I'm not sure if I'd call these theme-songs per-se, but they really fit the theme of my 'fic too:

Red - The War We Made
Skillet - Terrify the Dark

I've recycled a lot of the old music from my original write-up, and characters have amassed their own songs over time. Enigma and Harbinger are those that have the most I feel! But I'll share their theme songs here:

Enigma
Glitch City - Lavender Town Remix

Harbinger (Not his original theme but this just works a lot more somehow)
Larrynachos - KK Slider Steep Hill (Metal Cover)

Harlequin
Glitch City - N's Castle Bridge

Mischief (I think it gets his chaotic madness across)
Glitch City - Burned Tower Remix

I could talk for hours, but I won't go too nuts XD I'll leave it at this for now.

 

[Sinderella]

1. Talk about how you use music when you write! Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all?

This really depends on the mood/scene I'm writing. For more intense scenes, I'm listening to Hiroyuki Sawano anime tracks, chugging Evanescence guitars, and grungy Three Days Grace rifts. Softer angst scenes have me more toward gothic country songs and softer acoustic guitar and piano tunes. Funnier, more upbeat scenes get pop, and sometimes rap songs. I have a couple really psychological horror-esque scenes that I write to only horror tracks. It varies!

I have multiple playlists that I actually first divided into three categories--angst, battle songs, and romantic/happy bits. However, it got to be a pain in the ass to swap between three playlists, so I condensed them into playlists based on the arcs of White Swan, Black Swan, book 1, 2, or 3. They're constantly changing and rearranging, but they've been pretty stagnant for the past couple months. They might be set, but I don't know!

2. Describe your fic with music. It could be a song per chapter or scene or character, or maybe there's one song that summarizes your entire fic.

While I have outlined my chapters and even assigned songs to them, I haven't written said chapters out yet, so I am just going to uh, post the whole playlist in story succession!

White Swan, Black Swan: Book 1 OST

1. The Dream Within - Cellofourte
2. Bad - Royal Deluxe
3. Follow Suit - Trent Dabs
4. I Disagree - Poppy
5. No Diggity - Blackstreet
6. World So Cold - Three Days Grace
7. Chemicals - Smile Empty Soul
8. The Beautiful People - Scala and Kolacny Brothers
9. Hitsujigamine - Myuu
10. 凸】♀】♂】←巨人 - Hiroyuki Sawano
11. Cold - Aqualung and Lucy Shwartz
12. Drink the Water - Justin Cross
13. Dear Love of Mine - Daniel Spaleniak
14. So Cold - Breaking Benjamin (Also the Aurora Version)
15. Lay My Body Down - Rag N' Bone Man
16. Teardrop - Massive Attack
17. Seasons - Chris Cornell
18. Human - Rag N' Bone Man
19. Achilles Come Down (Slowed) - Gang of Youths (Regular Version, if interested!)
20. Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) [Acoustic Version] - AURORA
21. Take a Walk and Never Come Back - Daniel Spaleniak

4. Talk about what would happen if some Broadway hit-maker scooped up your fic and turned it into a script. What songs would be in it? Describe a dance number/dance battle?

So...I haven't envisioned it as a musical, but I have envisioned it as a show on HBO. The opening song is 100% The Dream Within by Cellofourte, I don't know what it is, but something about the pensive aura of the rifts really suits White Swan, Black Swan's overall vibe. There are a couple big scenes that I've written already that I constantly imagine as TV show scenes. One in particular is a future scene where Odette has a very intense confrontation with somebody, and the confrontation is extremely unnerving. The entire scene is backed by The Beautiful People by Scala and Kolacny Brothers, but also tapers off into Hitsujigamine (from the Catherine Soundtrack) by Myuu. It ends with a track from the Attack on Titan OST. I also have a very dramatic and angsty hurt/comfort scene backed by Cold by Aqualung and Lucy Shwartz. There are several other scenes that I have mapped out for TV in my head, and when I write more, I'd be glad to come back and edit this and include some other scenes!

 

[AbraPunk]

1. Talk about how you use music when you write! Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all?

Yep, I have a special playlist titled "Motivation" for when I want to get into a writing mood! However, it never gets used because I'm always too busy listening to my character playlists.

2. Describe your fic with music. It could be a song per chapter or scene or character, or maybe there's one song that summarizes your entire fic.

Ooh, the only real answer I have would be for a (huge) scene near the end of my fic.
SkullHacker by Mick Gordon

Also, my character playlists range from "oh, yeah, this character would listen to this" to "these lyrics relate completely to the character." Here's some songs from each of the major character playlists.


Chappie (Shinx/Luxio)
The Good Left Undone - Rise Against
bury a friend - Billie Eilish
Go To Hell, For Heaven's Sake - Bring Me The Horizon
Good Life - OneRepublic


Landon (Lurantis)
Don't Panic - Coldplay
Yellow - Coldplay
Everything's Not Lost - Coldplay
Life Starts Now - Three Days Grace

Aster (Abra)
Like You Do - Joji
Easier To Run - Linkin Park
Happy Song - Bring Me The Horizon
Avalanche - Bring Me The Horizon

 

[Starlight Aurate]

1. Talk about how you use music when you write! Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all?

I don't have playlists for writing or listen while I write; I think way too much about the music itself (even purely instrumental stuff) and I end up trying to multitask and it doesn't work well. I DO, however, use music for inspiration! I'll often either listen to a song or have it playing in my head and think of how it goes along with any stories I'm currently writing.

2. Describe your fic with music. It could be a song per chapter or scene or character, or maybe there's one song that summarizes your entire fic.

Oof, way too much to put here. A few of the ones that immediately come to mind:

Theme song of Drowning:

Scary Kids Scaring Kids - Drowning

Prologue: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - The Kraken (Tbh this could be the theme for Team Aqua)

Most of the rest of what I have music for is for stuff I haven't posted yet... but a few that fit the themes of this fic:

Starset - Trials
Starset - Diving Bell

Character themes:
Maressa: Red - Buried Beneath
Courtney: Starset - Bringing it Down
Tabitha: Joe Hisaishi - Cave of Mind (from Howl's Moving Castle)
Derek: Tenth Avenue North - Oh My Dear (there are a lot I could put for him, but I feel like the softer tone of this song fits him well)

(Yeah I know I linked to Starset 1 billion times but their songs are so PERFECT okay)

4. Talk about what would happen if some Broadway hit-maker scooped up your fic and turned it into a script. What songs would be in it? Describe a dance number/dance battle?

Oh goody! Well, I'd like to think that it contained all the songs from Pokemon Live! The Musical. Maxie would of course be voiced by Darren Dunstan and have the personality to go with it. Archie would be voiced by Clancy Brown or perhaps Dee Bradley Baker. They would have a fantastic duke-it-out scene 3/4 of the way through the show with giant puppet Groudon vs. giant puppet Kyogre (entirely IN SONG)! The Broadway hit would not be a totally faithful adaptation and would leave out much of the plot of Drowning and add in whatever it wants and make the characters much campier and more flamboyant. And it will be glorious.

5. If you characters started a band, what would it be called, what kind of music would they play, and what role would each character play?

Team Aqua would be "The Salty Sailors." Archie would be lead singer, Shelly would be backing vocals, Matt would play bass, Maressa would be on the drums, and Mark and Mickey would be on guitars.

Team Magma would be "Heated Beneath" and Courtney would be the lead singer with Maxie on synth and Derek on guitar/backing vocals. Tabitha would make the occasional guest appearance whenever they wanted to hear a shamisen or taiko.

My stories often end up with a theme-song. The End: Rekindled's 'main theme' has remained the same since my first write-up of it.

Thousand Foot Krutch - Courtesy Call

It just... works.

I'm not sure if I'd call these theme-songs per-se, but they really fit the theme of my 'fic too:

Red - The War We Made

Del's got the best taste in music. Just throwing it out there.

 

[BossCar]

I’ll answer number 2, since I don’t really have much to say for the others.

The characters do have theme songs, and musical references do appear. I decided not to use the word “sing” to describe such dialogue like this from 27’s draft:

“Everybody wants to be a master! Everybody wants to show their skills!” Rosa sports a confident smile.

”Everybody wants to get their faster!” Hilda sports a bright smile. “Make their way to the top of that hill!”

”Each time you try, gonna get a little bit better!” Rosa and Hilda cheer. “Each step you climb is one more step up the ladder!”

Then, there are chapter titles with song references. One happens to be Valen’s theme song, since he’s come a long way:

View: https://youtu.be/R9SZI4zdW-o


I kid you not, Valen used to don a tux, a bowler hat, and sunglasses as as a teenager/early young adult, and he dropped charm frequently. He brought the fangirls upon himself 😛

Valen and Rosa:

View: https://youtu.be/iqvBT9fSEHw

View: https://youtu.be/lmkuvuEIbmM

Not sure about Rosa herself. Maybe this, cuz she’s very confident and energetic?

View: https://youtu.be/J_49dfhh5XU

 

[HelloYellow17]

Dropped this on Discord already, but here’s the link to my playlist for OSAS 💛

OSAS Spotify Playlist

 

[AbraPunk]

Hope nobody minds the double post on this thread, buuuut...

Here's some playlists (mix of Spotify and YouTube) for the major characters in my fic (and then the last one will be the overall fic playlist)

Playlist for Chappie (Spotify)

Playlist for Landon (Spotify)

Playlist for Aster (YouTube)

Playlist for Pyre (YouTube)

Playlist for the whole fic! (YouTube)

 

[K_S]

Do you listen to different things when you work on different projects? Do you have a playlist (or playlists), or do you listen to one song on repeat? Do you prefer to work with no music at all?

I prefer soothing game OST's particularly marrowwind, Skyrim for towns, and tranquil nature scenes, and whatnot. Or their remixes. I'm a big Jeremy Soule fan and I like listening to things in that vein when going for tranquil scenes and the like.

I've a few tracks I listen to when I am writing for certain characters. Oddly enough Green from Roost has this song associated with her in my head...

Misty Area by GAmetal

 

[kibigo]

This may change by the time I actually get the thing written but here is the tentative playlist for the currently‐unnamed “Vanillite fic” I’ve been working on :—

Cold Songs From Kibi​

12 tracks | 56 minutes

1. “nobody’s home”. Janice Kwan. From ☁️ (2020). ♪ Ambient [Bandcamp] [YouTube]
2. “Gone”. Haux. From Violence in a Quiet Mind (2020). ♪ Indie Alternative [Bandcamp] [YouTube]
3. “Snow”. Loreena McKennitt. From A Midwinter’s Night Dream (2008). ♪ Celtic / New Age [YouTube]
4. “Melt!”. Kelly Lee Owens. From Inner Song (2020). ♪ Techno [Bandcamp] [YouTube]
5. “Permeation”. Tukico. From Primitive (2020). ♪ Ambient [Bandcamp] [YouTube]
6. “ICE”. BIM ft. RIp & Submerse. From “Symbiosis” Original Soundtrack (2021). ♪ Hip‐Hop [YouTube]
7. “In the Wind”. Yosi Horikawa. From Spaces (2019). ♪ Beats [Bandcamp] [YouTube]
8. “Holocene”. Bon Iver. From Bon Iver (2011). ♪ Indie Alternative [Bandcamp] [YouTube]
9. “Before Dawn”. Ola Gjeilo. From Night (2020). ♪ Neoclassical [YouTube]
10. “Pirouette”. Dizzy. From Baby Teeth (2018). ♪ Indie Pop [YouTube]
11. “Conflicted”. STUTS. From Contrast (2020). ♪ Instrumental Hip‐Hop [YouTube]
12. “Resurrections”. Lena Reine. From Celeste: Original Soundrack (2018). ♪ Soundtrack [Bandcamp] [YouTube]

(wow 2020 was a good year for ambient/instrumental music huh)