This mix started out as one for the first book, but now it's more of a general mix for the entire series.
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I was playing a lot of D:OS2 when I started writing this series, and now the opening theme (and a lot of the OST) is just part of The Soundtrack for Vallorth.
I'm all set to veer away / And I'm all set to go astray / All burdens I will leave ashore / To find what I've been longing for
not so much the running away to sea part, but the running away to find what you've been longing for is a key part of Lucian's story - and most of the others, too. Nearly everyone in the book is running from something or running in search of something.
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the sweet sound of a hurdy gurdy is just a fundamental part of the Valloroth Soundscape to me. The slight darkness and magic in this tune fit the tone of the story perfectly.
And when the darkness grows onto my heavily loaded back / I'll shake it off my shoulders and I'll follow my own track
another song that feels very much about Lucian escaping Infernus to run somewhere new. Also I did originally hear the 'run from the drag and from the treason' as 'run from the dragon, from the treason' so. There's also that.
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the Visions album is one I listened to a lot when originally drafting, and it was hard to just pick a few songs to go on the main playlist. They just sound like Valloroth to me.
I’m gonna be a comeback kid / And I want to be the one that’s not afraid / To jump from every sinking ship ‘cause I’m done / Waiting to be saved
this is an Aliyne song - she wants to not be afraid anymore, to save herself, to be independent, stop running. Lowkey the vibes are this is directed at Zander, too.
I ain't never giving up / I ain't never ever, I ain't never ever giving up my pride
there's a theme of determination through the series, and this song captures that. it's got a lot of Quest in it, too: they really don't give up, ever.
I took a battering but I've got thicker skin / And the best people I know are looking out for me
Friendship and people caring for each other is at the heart of the story; doesn't matter how hurt they get, they're going to be there for one another. That goes for Sorrow and the K'zinla as well as Lucian and his friends.
Happiness hit her like a train on a track / Coming towards her, stuck still, no turning back
Another song about running - and another Aliyne track. She's afraid of good things because she knows how easily they can be taken away. Tough luck, kid, good things are coming your way. You've got friends now. Deal with it.
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy / But here's my number, so call me maybe
this is just the Sorrow/Vren meetcute (meetkill) song because im gay and i think it's funny to have this playing in the background over a montage of them trying to kill each other before they kiss.
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vibes! i very much want this book to feel like a d&d game or an RPG, and this is just That Sound
Forget what I need, give me what I want / And it should be fine
half the cast are young and just trying to live - and both Sorrow and Vren are chasing what they want instead of what they really need. Same with Zander, honestly. You boys are gonna learn some LESSONS.
Some princes don't become kings
wildly running with this line, because infernii nobles are Princes, and Lucian is one, and it's a Very Relevant part of his story.
(translated) All eyes on me when I bust down the door / Without even trying
ngl, this one's on here because it's the soundtrack to the Vetusak K'zinla Kicking Ass AMV in my head.
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In your dreams, the ghost has come alive / In these walls, there's nowhere left to hide
this song (and the next few) are related mainly to books 2 and 3 - old evils coming to life, the dead rising, an inhuman threat - and our own little ghost, the Wraith, having some troubles.
We can't run from it / We can't hide from it
Grisaille is something of an inescapable threat.
I am a phenomenal anomaly, got me / Better run and get a hundred armies, copy / Nothing can stop me / I’m feeling Godly
a Grisaille song - she is ascending, she's risen, she's determined to take what she's due: godhood.
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eerie and dark atmosphere, that fits perfectly to the awakening of a long-dead lich
I am only a shadow / The chain around your neck / I am only a shadow / A mystery to life and death
Grisaille's connection to Vren, and his ring of shadows granting him a new gift of servitude to her.
I live for the applause, applause, applause
a song for both Sorrow and Zander, who both crave attention and applause. Zander more, more so the applause; Sorrow moreso as a distraction from whatever he's really up to.
You-you-you're just my type / Oh, you got a pulse and you are breathing
oh hey Zander and Sorrow again; they both love to sleep with many people, and enjoy it, and feel no guilt or shame about it. But while they're both free with their affections, Zander tends to be too casual about it; a point which leaves him with a string of angry exes, and Sorrow with a collection of delighted lovers.
Oh my! / Feels just like I don't try / Looks so good I might die / All I know is everybody loves me
yes, we're still on the Zander and Sorrow kick: what can I say, they both express a character I find delightful (pretty man who likes to sleep around) in slightly different variations. It's a good meal, and I'm never gonna stop making it.
'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play / And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
this is partly a kind of Zander song and partly just on here cause I like imagining the post-credits Shrek-style OC dance party that it inspires.
Kill me; all I want is thrill me
Murder and sex and Sorrow and Vren's relationship 💜 Also later on (much, much later, the fact that Lucian and Vren get together despite the latter meeting the former only because he was hired to kill him). This song is great for the mental AMV of Sorrow and Vren trying to kill each other with every interaction also fraught with UST.
Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night? / Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light? / Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay or should I go? / I've forgotten how to tell, did I ever even know?
after the fact, this song applies to the internal struggles of several characters (Aliyne, Vren, Lucian). before the fact: it fucking rules and I have an anime opening for book 2 set to it in my head. fighting undead, fighting a lich, a great big undead dragon...it's the coolest shit.
I don't believe in fairytales / But I believe in you and me
i am a simple man: i apply this to Vren and Sorrow, and i get in my feelings about it. Vren doesn't believe in childish stories of things working out okay, in fantasies of a better life. He does end up believing that Sorrow cares about him and wants to help him.
Oh, how the mighty fall in love
Sorrow and Vren, what can I say. Me pointing and laughing at the idiots falling for each other. You thought you were soooo aloof and immune to love. Get boyfriend'd.
Become a bounty hunter justifying laws I break by bringing bodies back to bounds
Vren, you can't just hide in being a really good assassin forever. You can't kill your feelings forever. You can't stay alone with everyone at arm's length forever.
No, I wasn't born without a heart, I wasn't always like this
Sorrow and Vren, for different reasons. The cruel circumstances of their lives before now has made them the way they are: hurting and haunted.
But I won't die for love / But ever since I met you / You could have my heart / And I would break it for you
listen to song. think about Sorrow and Vren. lie on the floor. scream internally.
If you only knew / How I refuse to let you go even when you're gone
the fact that Vren gets kidnapped by a lich who mindcontrols him through his ring, and Sorrow goes and gets him anyway. the man has IMPRINTED he will NOT let anyone have his ghost.
Get up and fight / I can't do this thing without you
you might think this is another Sorrow and Vren song and you are correct BUT it's also a Lucian and his friends song. A Sorrow and Aspiration song. A Vetusak K'zinla song. Everyone helps each other, everyone has to pull each other up to stand and fight. For emotional reasons, but also you cannot face a lich and her dracolich alone.
They say we are what we are / But we don't have to be
character development go whee, and also this is a very Heroic song to me. very determined ragtag group of adventurers facing down dragons and ancient magic and other evils.
I'm not afraid, I'm not
Lucian coming through the fear of his past to be bold and brave and a protector.
You and me, us and we / Her and I and him and she / Yours and mine, thou and thine / And all the ways we intertwine
i interpret this platonically, about Lucian and his friends and all the ways they connect, and how much they all mean to each other. there's more kinds of love than just romantic in these books.
And I've always lived like this / Keeping a comfortable distance / And up until now, I had sworn / To myself that I'm content with loneliness / Because none of it was ever worth the risk
a song for Vren and Aliyne, having been through so much; her not thinking that any real friendship can ever exist, Vren that no real love can exist. And both of them being proven wrong by Lucian and Sorrow.
You are the first thing I believed in
Lots of people in this series finding other people to believe in at last. Romantic and platonic, and I love them all so much.
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For you are made of nebulas and novas and night sky / You’re made of memories you bury or live by
for Lucian and his friends, particularly the ways in which they bring him out of and into himself.
And I don't really care if nobody else believes / 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me
Lucian is so determined to do the right thing, to make himself a hero and a helper; to prove that he can be more than he fears he is. That he can be a good person.
And everybody can stand there folding their arms / They’re saying, "don't hold your breath" / I'm saying, "how can you breathe?"
this is the rare and coveted Leshanna song. she wants to be so much, she's so anxious, she's trying so damn hard.
And I am done with my graceless heart / So tonight, I'm gonna cut it out and then restart / 'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn / It's always darkest before the dawn
Florence generally gets me in my Aliyne feels. She's very determined, and she becomes determined to take the happiness she's found and keep it, no matter what.
But every story I have told is part of me
A Lucian song, and a Zander one. Zander for the storytelling, Lucian for wanting to live the stories. The hopeful feeling, the telling of tales.
I used to fight alone / Now I fight for me and you
i am once again putting platonic feelings into a romance song. Aliyne mostly; she used to be very much a loner, and now she's just as fierce about protecting her friends as she was about protecting herself.
instrumental
instrumental version because i like it, but the 'i want to live' lyrics hit home for Lucian so hard.
We will take the best parts of ourselves and make them gold
have i mentioned this book is about how friendships make all the people involved better? cause it is. they make each other the best versions of themselves (eventually).
Darling, our scars make us who we are, are / So when the winds are howling strong / And you think you can't go on, hold tight, sweetheart
and once again FRIENDSHIP TIME. the past is not ignored, it made everyone here who they are, but if you let other people in, good things come.