I like to make a character soundtrack. I have made them for all my tabletop RPG characters, to help me get into their mind when I’m about to go into the game. It’s a creative thing that helps me really prepare for play.
And, of course, that means there are soundtracks for the books, or at least the characters in them. With Fiendblood freshly out, I thought I’d share the one I use for Meliantha, to get her written. I don’t use Spotify, but at the end of this will be a link to a YouTube playlist you can use, and each song has their own link. So… here we go.
- Katy Perry, Rise
There were people who found Meliantha’s existence distasteful for various reasons: some because of her fiendish bloodline, some because they resented the attention that her adopted father gave her, some because she worked hard and did well at the Academy, and some just because she grew into a strong woman and they saw that as a threat to their beliefs. She did have problems, and did have failures and pain from it, but every time, she rose, higher than before, until her patron saint saw her and granted her his blessing, making her something greater. - Bob Seger, Turn The Page
Her life had a great deal of loneliness in it. She wandered alone, no one to really talk to. She had places she stopped for a bit – her time with her tutor, or with Master Shemgar, but all of that was tinged with knowing that someone she had cared about – and thought cared about her – had abandoned her as weak. It wasn’t until Liliana came back into her life that Meliantha could really turn that page and step into a happier part of her life. - Khan, The Edge of Soul
She didn’t give in to the loneliness, except that one disastrous time. And even after that, she sought healing, found it, and used the pain to make her better, and carried on with what she believed in. That might be her greatest strength – her faith, almost unshakable, that there are people and things worth defending, worth the pain and the weariness. - Disturbed, The Light
One, she looked for the light to show her the way to what her life should be. After becoming Blessed by Master Grymdol, she became the light for others to look to. She still hasn’t quite understood that’s what she’s become, but she will. - Maneskin, Gossip
I couldn’t find a bardcore version of this, so the original it is. This song – with alterations – shows up before Meliantha’s trial for heresy near the end of the book, and the bard who sings it – who is going to get her own book! – is pretty angry about the whole situation, because from what she’s learned, it’s complete bullshit, and as a bard, part of her job is to call out the bullshit she sees. (Juliette has seen a lot of bullshit in her life, which her book will go into.) - Chinchilla, Little Girl Gone
This song goes to out to every member of the Heartbreakers, in the very special damnation their souls are in. One of your number tried to break Meliantha, and in doing so managed to piss some people off so badly that they decided your entire gang was expendable and your leader deserved to spend eternity being digested by a fiend. Hope it was worth it! - Nightwish, Last Ride of the Day
Being a wanderer means not being sure where you’re going to sleep that night – maybe an inn, maybe under a tree, maybe a military outpost that recognizes your badge. But for an adventurer there’s a certain beauty in that wandering, and the questions of what you’ll see next wherever your road goes. - Taylor Davis, Fairy Tail End Theme (Violin Cover)
This is the music you might hear, if this was a movie, when there’s visuals of Meliantha hiding up a road and coming over a hill to see what’s next, or traveling through a grassy field, or a similar visual. I just like it for those purposes. - Bob Seger, Shakedown
This could be the unofficial song of the Spiders, honestly. If you are a danger to the Empire, they will hunt you, they will chase you, they will bring you down. That might be killing you, that might be bringing you in to be interrogated, but once the Spiders know who you are and what you’re up to, you are going to be the center of attention for a number of dedicated, skilled, dangerous agents whose goal is to make sure that you will fail. - Lifehouse, Hanging By A Moment (Acoustic Version)
This song is very much the song for Meliantha and Liliana. The two of them, my girls, are so in love and so dedicated to their missions that they would die to protect each other, even if it would kill them to do so. They are crazy in love, and sworn to their saints, and it takes them so long to work out how to reconcile those two things, and I am so glad they did.
And here is the full playlist:
There’s soundtracks for Liliana, the Grey Swan, and Maisie, so they’ll probably be going up soon.