Hibernal ๐‰๐€๐Œ๐ฎ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ- ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ

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Hibernal ๐‰๐€๐Œ๐ฎ๐š๐ซ๐ฒ- ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ


It's a song about the climb to the summit cross, the marker at the top of a mountain that shows you've made it to the peakโ€”and turning at the last moment, stuck in all the memories and hardships that brought you there.

โ€œAnd again, after endless waiting, just leave,
Turn one step before the summit cross,
Almost touching us and yet not seeing us,
And then just keep counting the moments.โ€

But there's more in the journey:

โ€œDon't simply stop and give up;
to breathe, one only needs
two lungs, no reason.โ€

Those words pushed me through the hardest of times in my life, putting one foot in front of the other to reach the top, to count the moments, the hardships, to find peace in them.

โ€œNever close your eyes and accept tirednessโ€”
A smile is usually enough to keep you from giving up.โ€

And finally, to know you're not alone, and to take responsibility for being a good person in a scary world:

โ€œOpen arms the most powerful protest we have;
I want to say it before anyone else falls:
Please take care of each other in this shitty world.โ€
 
Bet you can relate. ๐Ÿ‘‡ Seems like a relevant song for fellow fantasy writers. Enjoy!


Edito!
I would never be able to pick just one song. There are too many. So what I did here was picked my favorite song I heard that day. This artist's soulful voice, coupled with the dancing keys, and the subject matter made it an easy choice. In my youth, I had many dragons circling my tower. There were many who approached only to walk away again due to the trauma beasts. That's layer 1. Layer 2 makes me think of Ink and Ember and writing a cathartic story that included my best friend that recently passed to due malignant melanoma that metastisized to her brain. IF YOU ARE SUSPICIOUS OF ANY MOLE ON YOUR SKIN, GET IT CHECKED!! Anyway, when the part of the song gets to tearing out the pages and pages of all that we were and how he would persevere until he wrote the ending she deserved ... well, that seems self-explanatory. One day I will write that story and when I do - she will beat her cancer. And lastly, I wanted to share a song that everyone here could relate to: a song about dragons and damsels and heroes that don't always win, but try again anyway.

Happy writing to you all and I am greatly enjoying your submissions. Thanks also to @Jumbled for this wonderful idea. It seems to have been a great hit as music is such a great motivator for many muses.

XooX,
Birdy
 
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I fell for someone I shouldnโ€™t have.
I have continued to struggle with those feelings and what they mean and how to manage them.
The best way so far has been to pretend a lot of things donโ€™t exist. A lot of emotions. People.
I come back to this song occasionally to remind myself that tomorrow and every day after can be better than yesterday and today.

Iโ€™ve found a lot of this bandโ€™s songs to be pretty relevant.

Sometimes it helps.
 
Is it time for the bonus round yet? Because I had my one ready to go as soon as I saw it!

Kalaboks said:
Probobly won't be for everyones taste. It's a folk metal song about cristianity comming into pagan Latvia. Calls the inquisitor "Gods dog" and the song is about him hunting witches and werewolfs just to be turned in one at the end.

But the song makes me proud to be Latvian the whole band does. It celebrates our rich culture in it's own unique way and also I showed this song to FireFly when I started out on this site so I also brings some associations to Inner Sanctum now.

Click to expand...

Dieva Suns by Skyforger
Cornbox introduced me to Skyforger a while back with this very song, and I fell in love with it! As you could probably tell from my post, I love folk music in general, and combined with metal is just ๐Ÿ”ฅ I wish someone would make a metal cover of Camino de Llamas...

Anyway,
Dieva Suns translates to "Hound of God", and a bit of background about the song (and Kala can correct me if I've misinterpreted) is that it's based on actual events that happened in Latvia over 300 years ago. During a trial for robbery, an elderly man is called forward as a witness and - in a wild turn of events - confesses to having been a WEREWOLF this whole time.

RIGHT!?

Instead of being bad guys, however, werewolves in this setting were actually weapons of God himself, helping humanity by retrieving their stolen goods from the gates of hell three times a year. The "curse" was passed on from human to human by drinking from a magic cup. I encourage you to learn more about the story, you can read about Thiess of Kaltenbrun (the werewolf man) here and here. It's a really cool story!

So, onto my prompt:

1767712064320.png

In a rural village in the dead of night, a ceremony is taking place; the cup passes from hand to hand, the sacred draught within offered to each warrior in turn by the village priest. A new Hound of God/The Gods will rise amongst the strongest of them. Not a man; something else, something more. A beast. A werewolf.

Nobody knows how the cup knows which to bestow the blessing upon, but when it does, they will rise, a warrior of man no longer, but a warrior of the Gods instead.

Their village starving, their people on the brink of ruination, the Hound breaks through the gates of hell at the turn of each season to take back what was stolen from them by the evil forces that plague the earth.

This prompt is free to use, even though I'll admit it even got my creative juices going a little bit (ew, sorry) but NO I shall not start a story on a whim, especially given my um -cough- present status.

Enjoy!
 
oooh, moar badges!
Here goes a song that recently popped up on the YouTube as something I may be interested in. (I was already familiar with The Red Clay Strays.)

The algorithm was, in fact, correct and I am a fan of the song. The band overall, esp some of their other music, has this sort of raspy, old-timey feel to it that I really vibe with.

Fav line(s): โ€œMaybe we should try to mind our business, maybe we should turn the other cheek. The only way for us to ever end this, is loving unconditionally.โ€

Addโ€™l pros: fun instrumentals ~2:15.

 
I may as well join in on this... I have two that I deeply enjoy and can't pick between them.


This is one that I resonate with more than anything else. I prefer to get lost in my mind than deal with my reality because things there are a tiny bit kinder. Not by much, but it's better than dealing with reality at times. I can also manage my expectations there and not be disappointed by the things in there compared to the real world.


I cry every time I listen to this one. It makes me miss my grandmother entirely too much. And as she says in the song, everything that was hers meant to be left for me was taken from me by horrible people. I now have nothing but a small clip of her voice to help me get through, which is enough. I know she's here with me, but I miss her every day.

But yeah, here's my contribution :purpleheart:
 

Okay, a bit of a nerdy moment but I remember watching my brother play Kingdom hearts on his game cube (I know 2 wasn't on there) and fell in love with the game that way until I was able to play it on the PlayStation 3. With every upgraded system I buy, I always make sure that's one of the games I have installed because, much like The Last of Us, I will go back and replay it over and over again. It's the nostalgia of being young and whenever I hear it, I'm suddenly that little kid again, sitting at my grandma's watching my brother play.
 
I tried really, really hard to cap myself at two songs. I failed. I considered not posting, but I figure if it's too many, y'ain't gotta listen. Music is my primary tool for sensory regulation, so some of these come with a physical or visual sensation that I want to describe.

I discovered this one in 2016, and it instantly became one of my most played songs because of the instrumentals. They feel heavy and expansive, like the way a thundercloud or weighted blanket presses down on your bones. The lyrics are really poetic and describe accepting mistreatment out of desperation for tenderness and love. ("Desperate minds hold the counterfeit so tight, hoping high they will be kind to you.") The final minute is just the expansive thunderstorm of instruments, and a deep, mournful chorale, and the storm demanding to wreak its havoc. When the instrumental landscape softens, it's like an auditory metaphor for the storm's dissolution as the singer tenderly urges, "Run, run, run, run."

I don't really have an artistic analysis for why I love this. The sound of the bass and guitar feel good in my head, like LEGO bricks clicking together, the rhythm is confident and fluid, and I've been listening to it constantly since last Christmas. (Thanks again, @chap .) It's a song I want to cover once I start performing, and I already have visions for the choreo and costume design.

An instrumental one. It's an entire sensory experience and actually has gotten me through meltdowns with the way it's structured. The intro is slow and soft and otherwordly, and it washes away rage or sadness in its first 2 minutes, and I feel cool water on the inside of my skin. Then the melody builds into something grand and all encompassing, like water and wind swirling around your body, raising you up into the air, before it gradually slows back down into that soothing and ethereal sound, returning to a state of calm. It's the only song that I've ever described as "providing aftercare."

It has the energy of a battle song, but the battle is against depression and self sabotage.
For me to ever close my eyes in fear again, after all the love and trust I've found, I could never live it down.
May each word I speak be backed by each of my teeth. I claim this as a pact, these words a ceremony.


This song actually comes with a secret command and it's "Have fun."

Edit: Forgot to add that I was going to include a Kingdom Hearts song, but @Wintersprings beat me to it in spectacular fashion with the best intro.
 
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I am in great company. I have a few myself that are stuck on repeat right now.

First, League and Runeterra somehow have impeccable taste in music and musicians. Except that ONE, if you've followed the news. I loved the entire ARCANE soundtracks and extended soundtracks with different song mixes. I cried when Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots belted out "I can see the light shine on my faaaace" at The Game Awards. From the first time I heard the song, I could feel the warmth of sun on my face. Breath as a subtle impact on me. It's like a gentle reminder to just breathe. Take it in, blow it out, breathe through the problems. Keep moving through the pain, stress, fear, success. It's such a comforting song despite the war-torn world of Runeterra as depicted in the Launch video posted. Especially with how intense my job has been, this is just the song I need at the moment of my life that it's needed. It reminds me to have stillness in the madness and breathe.




I just need this feeling again, which is why I paired the song specifically with a video of the scene that repopularized the song. I need that deeply human, let go feeling while dancing hoping the night never ends.
 

I just love everything about this song. The lyrics are sometimes biting and sarcastic ("They pose in Christmas cards with guns as big as all their children") and sometimes so earnest it's painful ("I'm the one who still loves your ghost / I reanimate your bones / With my belief")
 
Okay, some of you already know about it but this! After being stuck in a rut for a few years mentally and finally getting out of it, this song just, well, sang to me. I managed to find this after everything was sorted out and it immediately reminded me of the relief I felt getting everything off my shoulders. Even though what heโ€™s singing about has no implication, itโ€™s the emotions heโ€™s feeling wishing to be happy like everyone else he sees that got this song on my top played for a couple months now.

 
I had a hard time deciding what one song to pick, but I couldnโ€™t get this one out of my head.


Besides being quite catchy (and I say this as someone who isnโ€™t big on rap or hip hop), the story behind this song is what really captivates meโ€”I learned about it in a documentary a year or two ago. Emmanuel Jal grew up in South Sudan during a time of civil war, and was a child soldier. I distinctly recall seeing a video of him holding a rifle at age nine or ten. The song here was named after Emma McCue, a foreign aid worker who smuggled Emmanuel into Kenya, away from the war in his home country. It was her effort that allowed him to get some education, but sadly she died in a car crash while Emmanuel was still young.

This song serves as both an antiwar protest and a piece to honor Emmaโ€™s memory and efforts. Knowing the story behind the work made it ten times as powerful to me.
 
Chele said:

A beautiful yet haunting song that feels like it should be in some movie or show. Her voice is gorgeous and the song is powerful.
Click to expand...
I listened to this song half a dozen times. I'll listen to it a half a dozen more as I use it for a battle scene in one of my RPs on site. Thereby, this is not a shareable prompt, sorry. Thanks so much @Chele for this gem! It's going into my writing playlist. And you are 100% correct. EPIC things must take place in this song. You will see it placed in a spoiler within my post when the story ripens to this delicious scene.

https://writerssanctum.com/threads/where-shadows-fall-jason-n-song.45611/

PROMPT

EPIC battle scene as the male and female commanders of the AoE approach their first structured battlefield. All foes aware and awaiting. After years of friendship and separation, they find one another again only to be at each other's sides when the world goes dark. Khaless turns to Xarxes with eyes of unwavering resolution and says for his ears, "Your timing must be perfect." His response seems out of place but not out of nature when he gives her a boyish grin and wink before turning his calvary off from the main army. Kha drives the first regimen into the fray of assembled foes, outnumbered three to one. Just as the battle begins to turn to a loss, Xar rides in on the flank of the opposing army and begins mowing his way to Khaless. Victory is fated for this skirmish.

To be continued ...

kha battle.jpg kha calvary.jpg KHALESS.jpg xar 2.jpg

​
 
I thought about this for some time. I wanted a song that I encountered naturally, out in the wild as it were, and I am fond of instrumentals, and video game themes. I thought briefly about using something from the legendary ROTT soundtrack, but then I recalled the boss theme from Capcom's superb 2d fighter X-men: Children of the Atom, which I played at the arcade back in the day. This was before Sir Ian McKellen, before TAS '97, before the mask had been removed and the villain turned into a mere anti-hero. You can see why it happened though. The pathos is baked into the story, and this song captures it so perfectly. We had come a long way since, 'Welcome to die,' but had arrived. Capcom was at the height of its powers at this time. Their art, their soundtracks, the sheer polish, was on another level. The game itself is fantastic. The final boss legendarily ball-breaking in what was already a brutally difficult game. All the same I could not help but feel for this villain who was costing me both sanity points, and money.

The song wordlessly conveyed the perfect sense of power, passion, and the raw, emotional conflict of someone stoically resolved to do something so terrible you must stop them even if you sympathise with their goals and empathise with their motives.
 
As a teenager and into my early 20's, music represented my emotions more than anything else. The characters I wrote at the time also were a huge representation at that time too.

I'm no where near as angry as I used to be now, but these two songs specifically still resonate with and inspire me.


For a time, they did inspire those specific characters.

These days, music that inspires depends on what character (or story) is taking over my mind:


'Love' for the two idiots in this story is something feral; a thing that destructive, addictive, and impossible to walk away from even when you know better. The songs capture various phases of their dynamic over time: the hunger, the restraint, and the breaking point.

Writing about obsession really does make you obsessed...

 
Had to get in on this before my introduction even!! The scandal!
This just seemed too cool to pass on when I found it so I had to get an entry in! So the last month or two I've been really nostalgic and the one I've had stuck in my head is Ashes of Eden by Breaking Benjamin. It's been a tough couple years (not going to drop that bomb so early outta the gate here) but the entire Dark Before Dawn album has been therapeutic, a nice dark to light kind of vibe that's helped. I've always liked Ben's vocals since first listening to them on Halo with Blow Me Away (THAT'S taking it back amirite?). So that's mine.

 


I chose this song because it was the first one I heard from this artist and it really shows the amazing range of her voice. Especially for her growls and screams. Even though its heavy metal its a song that hits deep and makes me want to belt it out every time I hear it and helps me get out all of my frustrations with life and work by singing. It also helps me be calm and just lose myself in the melody and lyrics.
 
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