So, Random Song Thingies · 4:51pm Aug 28th, 2014
...yeah, let me repeat my sentiment about awkward titles.
So, I'm quite fond of listening to music. Oftentimes, I end up liking a new song not for its beat or its message, but how well it corresponds to a story in my head. I'd be stuck listening to a song I haven't heard before, and listen to the lyrics carefully, and then I realize it fits well with a character of mine or a story I have in my head (or already written). So, some of my examples are:
"Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from "Frozen"
--Inspiration for We Used to Be Best Buddies
When I first heard this song, it was when I first watched Frozen in theaters back in December. And since we didn't even know that Cheese Sandwich was going to be a thing, let alone that I was going to create Tomato Sandwich, well, I never really latched the song to anything other than the movie it's from.
Months passed, Pinkie Pride aired, and a couple of concepts for fanfics and headcanon were in it's beginning stages, namely The Rock Farmer's Daughters and Tommy. I was having a bit of trouble deciding just who Tomato would be, only that he should be a foil for Cheese. My first concept was of him basically being pony Justin Bieber... you can see why I scrapped that. -_- My thread of brainstorm happened, gave me more ideas on how to polish Tommy's character, and then I remembered this nonsense:
Had the funny thought of Tommy as Anna, and while imagining him singing "For the First Time In Forever" is hilarious, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" struck a chord with me. It gave me the idea of the boys being close when they were young, but not so much when they're older (helps that I had decided on Tommy being a goofball as a colt a while back). Several scene ideas, some backstory headcanon tweaks, and reworked lyrics later, I wrote "We Used to Be Best Buddies."
And I'll admit, from time to time I revisit the fic, open up a new tab to put on the instrumental of 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman', and just sing the reworked lyrics.
"Heart By Heart" by Demi Lovato
Was looking at pony videos, and came across one with this song. Somehow, the tone of the song actually fit The Rock Farmer's Daughters. And since it's a romance fic, and this song is about love, well, naturally, I set this as one of RFD's spirit songs.
Also, I have a habit of singing the first line of "White and Nerdy" to the beginning ("You see me mowing my front lawn..."). Go on, try it! XD
"The Farmer's Daughter" by Rodney Atkins
--Inspiration for The Rock Farmer's Daughters
While the previous song held more of the tone of the rock farm, this song pretty much inspired the story and the title. Basically, the story boils down to "guy takes job at farm and ends up falling in love with the farmer's daughter". Details differ, of course, but you get the jist.
I did have a bit of a personal debate over whether "daughter" should be pluralized or not. On the one hand, Cheese falls for only one Pie sister; on the other hand, Igneous has four daughters, and not pluralizing it would be a little misleading. I stuck with the plural form, and thus, that means more effort to flesh out Maud, Marble, and Limestone.
"I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan
Somehow, I got it into my head that this is the theme of colt Cheese Sandwich. Don't worry, Cheesy, you'll have Weird Al songs as your theme music when you're grown up!
"Larger Than Life" by the Backstreet Boys
--Inspiration for... Tomato Sandwich?
Hold the phone! We're talking about this guy:
How the crap did that song end up forming him?
Well, the thing is... he started out as an arrogant pop star that did nothing but grate on Cheese's nerves and get into trouble. I imagined this song would be more and less his introduction in the story in my head, in which Cheese is forced to throw a birthday party for superstar Tomato Soup (yeah, I changed it just so I could say "Sandwich Brothers"; it's easier on me), and Pinkie helps him. A stupid love triangle ensues.
There was also an adorable little sister involved. She was later grafted into colt Tommy.
I had a choice between doing this fic and The Rock Farmer's Daughters. No points for guessing which one I chose.
So, what was the reason for my choice? Well, let's just say I was really starting to dislike Pop Superstar!Tommy. He was really arrogant, and the crush on Pinkie he had was kind of creepy. His so-called "redemption" in my head, no matter how hard I tried, was just absolutely forced. Plus the way he was a jerk to Cheese made me realize that would rub everybody the wrong way. Not to mention I imagined him with an obnoxious accent. He was just absolutely unlikable.
So, naturally, I decided to tweak Tommy's character... a lot. Gave him a career change, changed his last name, a personality adjustment, and a little bit of a design change (Tommy was originally shorter, had a mare muzzle, and wore sunglasses). Keep in mind, that this is entirely in my head, so you can be grateful that you didn't have to put up with the atrocity he was before. The only things that remain are as follows:
1) His color palette
2) His status as the younger brother
3) The sibling rivalry
Also, if you're confused about Tommy's letter in "The Rock Farmer's Daughters", I'll make a point about how it's an AU, and that yes, Tomato Sandwich is affected because "The Final Spat" (still trying work out the kinks of that) didn't happen. Yes, the accordion was broken--but in the Main 'Verse, Cheese did return home to show them that he was a party planner. That visit went terribly wrong, to say the least.
But anyway, I've rambled enough. Seriously, I got so caught up in this...
Still, have any songs that have influenced your work or otherwise just remind you of what you've already written or planning to write? :)
Oh, all the time. Mostly, song-influenced fics for me haven't been written yet, or I just don't mention it. Actually, my influence comes from many things: Either I read a fic, rewatch episdoes and then get an idea there, an outside source such as music, or they just pop into my head (mostly the latter).
Swaggin' Spike is entirely based around music. Stayin' Alive, to be exact. But that's the point of it; you can't really read it unless you put on the song at the same time. And just to put the satisfication of the ATTENTION thing, the second chapter was going to consist of Michael Jackson. It's pretty easy to say what song influenced this fic.
Cheese Pie Cake came to me as I rewatched Pinkie Pride. I really love the Make A Wish song, and in that point, birthday comes up a lot. Couple that with Cheese Sandwich being in the episode, and I guess two and two went together. After all, when is the guy's birthday?
A Random possible fic by the name of Party Howitzer 1.051 (can you guess who it stars?) has come to me from a track in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, as well as the Attack on Titan theme, and premise in general. It's about Tirek coming across Cheese during his magic-stealing rampage, and Cheese defends himself with style. In MGR:R, the track plays as you fight a a giant robot, and AoT is... well, it kind of sparked a party howitzer vs giant Tirek thing. But that's a story for another day.
And probably most obviously, Apple Surprise came to me from Apples to the Core. Part of it was the song; the other was rewatching One Bad Apple. The two things clicked. Hang on, does Babs know about the possible family connection? Ta-da!
For the majority of my other fics that are published, it's a spark. A word, a point in an episode, anything else. Like in the Author Notes for Pinkie Eats a Cheese Sandwich, it says I got the idea when I ate a cheese sandwich. So yeah, brilliant influence there.
But still, there are plenty of others that I haven't touched on. Of course, stating that some of my clop ideas spawned from Nine Inch Nails... well, considering that 70% of NIN's songs are pretty much about sex, it's not saying much. My taste in music is rather diverse, and it changes frequently. I had a bit of a Daft Punk high recently. It's not a huge amount of single songs that are influencing my ideas, though there is one in particular I would like to use:
I want to use this in a Pie sister story where the four of them are fillies. The general gist is that Igneous has to accept that they'll eventually grow up, especially considering that Pinkie has been saying she wants to leave the farm. The song itself is sort of like a 'Childhood is golden' thing, so I think it's rather powerful.
But otherwise, there's not really that much that reminds me of what I've written. My own stuff is actually stuff I don't read. Might be denial, or I might be scared to face my own work. Though, the end of Cheese Pie Cake sort of fills me with this. It's not the most fitting song, but I like to see it from Pinkie's point of view, especially considering that Cheese would leave in the morning. It seems like her.
Strangely, I want to have a song associated with The Calling Night. It's my personal favourite fic I've written, and probably the only one I'm openly reading. But I got naught.
But enough about me...
So Tommy had a wild past, huh? Shouldn't be too surprised; many things I've changed a lot. Some may argue that a love triangle with Pinkie and Cheese is probably not the best idea either. But pop star Tommy... given that Cheese is big on polka, a pop star doesn't sound bad, actually. Of course, it's your choice and all, and the way you've made Tommy is great anyway, but when I think about it, a pop star isn't sounding terrible either. Of course, linking him in if he was like that now would seem weird. I'm a little intrigued though. But eh...
And I had no idea that there was an actual song about The Farmer's Daughters. The More You Know.
2409259 Ahaha, I've actually been wanting to read a Cheese vs. Tirek fic! I was going to write one because there was none, but I chickened out because I felt I made it too boring.
Using the party howitzer is brilliant.
I also want to read that Pie sister story.
I did want to touch on how "Belle" from "Beauty and the Beast" and "You'll Bring Honor to Us All" from "Mulan" influenced the first time Pinkamena goes into town in RFD, but I figured that talking about one Disney song was enough. But, yeah, the "Belle" part was obvious, given that people are just now wising up to the "Beauty and the Beast" influences (somebody's now expecting a mob at one point), but the song from Mulan? Just a small snippet of Pinkamena doing the exact same thing Mulan does in one point of the song.
Other influences are books I've read (I tend to read a lot of historical fiction), other shows I watch, silly things that happened in my life, and stupid tumblr posts and fads that give me stupid ideas. And sometimes there are those ideas that just pop out of nowhere. I once got an idea about Applejack having an alicorn baby like that... it's stupid and hilarious and it won't leave me alone!
As for Tommy, he still rubbed me the wrong way, and that love triangle would have only made things worse.
It wasn't so much that he was a pop star, it was him being a spoiled brat that rubbed being the favorite in Cheese's face. That character overhaul was the best thing I've done concerning him in my opinion.
I forgot to mention that Tommy did get to keep the singing voice. He just now prefers to do it in private.
Well, I just know about it because I've been listening to country music for years.
I've heard it several times on the radio, and when trying to figure out the effects on Cheese should Pinkie not see the Rainboom, that song just popped into my head, and the story began to form.