#I feel like giving both brothers 4 official songs is a lot... but Jade deserves a 4th song too ♡

[krenenbaker]

Octavinelle Character Songs and Associations

Moving onto our third dorm, Octavinelle, we have a variety of different genres, but also a common theme throughout. After all, these three are distinctly different, but work together beautifully.

There are rather a lot of songs in this entry; you'll see why, but also, these boys truly deserve it!

Notes: Every song is from my liked songs playlist (so feel free to judge me for my taste, haha!) and I only allowed myself to use an artist once for this project. There is also some strong language and mature themes in some of the songs, so be aware if you choose to listen to them. I've included: - A song that represents them - A song they'd listen to - and (for some) an additional song, depending on the character and circumstance

The full Spotify playlist for ALL songs and characters is linked at the end of the post.

Heartslabyul | Savanaclaw | Scarabia | Pomefiore | Ignihyde | Diasomnia

Azul Ashengrotto

Represented by: There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet - Panic! At The Disco

Azul has a mindset of changing himself, and proving himself to others. This often manifests in a rather showy manner, as he aims to present himself as not just worthy of respect, but worthy of more. And most importantly, he plans and then works towards this goal. He is also dramatic, yet well-put together and somewhat formal, much like the narrative setting of this song.

Listens to: Almost Human - Voltaire

Again, Azul is ~dramatic~ so he would like the theatricality and classiness of Voltaire's "dark cabaret"-style music. He would also at least somewhat relate to the lyrical themes of being powerful, but also feeling powerless, out-of-place, and insecure, while still presenting as dignified and confident. He almost certainly cried the first time he heard this song.

Bonus - Suggested for Trio: One O'Clock Jump - Count Basie

Since Azul, Jade, and Floyd had a trio in middle school with piano, bass, and a drum kit, I assume it was a jazz trio. As such, Azul would have likely suggested jazz standards for them to play, including One O'Clock Jump. This piece would showcase his piano skills as well as the musical abilities of the Leech twins, allowing him to perform what he was good at, and at a fairly comfortable level that would still be impressive for the audience. As always, working to maximize the output, while mitigating risk!

Jade Leech

Represented by: Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin

Look in my eyes and tell me that this song does not represent Jade Leech. Jade is reserved and dignified, seemingly a perfect gentleman. But he's also calculating, careful, and violent. He knows how to have his... uh... "fun" with it rarely being traced back to him; "He keeps it out of sight" :) The swing jazz performance and translation of Darin's version of this song also just suits Jade's personality marvellously.

Listens to: Woodland - The Paper Kites

However, I strongly believe Jade would like soft music, mostly indie pop and maybe folk or country ballads. That is, if it had lyrics that interested him. They could be either related to nature - as in this song - or of a shocking or dark subject material (like with murder ballads, such as Down in the Willow Garden). Jade would definitely listen to Woodland while arranging terrariums or getting ready to go on a hike :)

Bonus - Suggested for Trio: Billie's Bounce - Dexter Gordon

Like Azul, Jade would suggest a jazz standard for their trio, but not one with simple melodies or rhythms. Syncopation and interesting modes would provide the chaos he so craves. Billie's Bounce is also LENGTHY, at a whopping 17 minutes, 8 seconds; Jade seems the type to like to focus on a single piece, and this one is additionally varied enough to keep his interest. However, he would find it equally as interesting if the length caused his brother's attention to waver, leading to an even more chaotic play-through than may otherwise occur.

Floyd Leech

Represented by: I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters

I know that everyone assigns I Can't Decide to Floyd, but it just fits him so well! He has some very violent tendencies, but is usually incredibly upbeat and positive about it. Plus, the instrumentation of this song completely suits Floyd's energy! There's a reason people give this song to him.

Listens to (Good mood): Loser - Beck

Like everything to do with Floyd, his music taste changes based on his mood.  If he were in a good mood, he'd look for something that's easy to dance to, a bit lyrically silly, but still clever and with a good backstory or media references. Loser fits those criteria, and is also something he would just vibe with. It's fun, it's offbeat, it's sarcastic, it's perfect for Floyd.

Listens to (Bad mood): HURT - 1 800 PAIN

But if he were in a bad mood... his music choice would be a lot darker and more aggressive. If you ever come across Floyd listening to this, any horrorcore (Gravediggaz, ICP, (early) Eminem, etc.), any grindcore (Cattle Decapitation, Lock Up, Carcass, etc.) or anything similar in tone... RUN. NOW.

Bonus - Suggested for Trio: Five Foot Two Eyes Of Blue - Spike Jones

Like Jade, Floyd would suggest a slightly unusual piece for their trio to play.  But unlike his brother, Floyd would like something rhythmically consistent and uptempo, mostly since it's easier to dance to. But he'd still want something otherwise unpredictable. And since he can play basically any instrument necessary, this song is a perfect fit. But honestly, as long as it's fun and interesting, Floyd would want to play it!

[tiefling-queer]

For D&D character ask, for any and/or all of your characters;

1, 5, 8, 15, 23, 29, 64, 65, 69(Nice)

i’m gonna answer these for whichever characters have the most interesting answers, skipping some for repeats:

1. why did they choose their class(es)? their subclass(es)?

kip (wizard, school of necromancy): crisis of faith midway through grave cleric training, spurred on by him sucking at the whole cleric thing (9 wisdom babyyy) while also being a nerd (18 int babyyyy)

baylock (shadow sorcerer/rogue): the sorcerer part is a side effect from being born dead during a cataclysmic event that tore portions of the material plane asunder. the rogue part is because he got in with a bad crowd as a kid. he’s been gaining levels in sorcerer as he traverses the freaky magic wasteland, utilizes his magic more, and gets a little closer to death each time someone hits his squishy arcane caster frame too hard

izak (gunslinger, graveslinger): sometimes you’re a jaded teen-equivalent runaway bumming around the river kingdoms and some dude comes up to you and is like ‘im a neutral evil mercenary, but if you take this gun and learn to shoot, i can also be your dad’. and then later you’re a 20-something equivalent who just realized that you don’t actually want to be an evil mercenary so you run away again and this time some dude comes up to you and is like ‘i’m a priest of sarenrae and an exorcist, and if you believe you can be redeemed, i can also be your dad.’ and then you learn how to shoot ghosts so you can be useful while this guy teaches you about being a better person.

5. do they follow a higher power? what are their thoughts on divinity?

izak: (deep lore dump) izak’s family was, at one point, pious people, and it was some ancestor’s warped perception of what piousness is and what was worth sacrificing in the name of good that led to the entire mess that is izak’s face. izak’s a devout worshiper of sarenrae now and hopes to maybe be the assistance someone needs to put themselves on a better path the way brak was for him, but there’s still a part of him that believes that, because he’s a tiefling, he’s never going to really be saved, and that his soul will eventually belong to the asura it was promised to.

8. what are three songs that suit them?

sydel: buckets of blood by rufus rex (tw for self harm, link goes to spotify because i can’t find this track on its own on youtube), thank god that i’m not you by himalayas, and bruises by fox stevenson (full playlist here)

15. do they trust their party? why or why not?

kip: he trusts them with his life, he just doesn’t trust them to understand where he’s coming from. he’s hiding some really heretical opinions that he knows at least maya (the celestial warlock) won’t agree with. he doesn’t like to talk about his family trauma, his past, or anything that he thinks the party can use to cleverly deduce that the notes he’s been scribbling are about raising the dead and theoretical conduits, prices, and replacements for the soul (he’s a little paranoid and might be giving them more credit than they deserve)

baylock: baylock might trust morgran, but he doesn’t trust surina at all, not since she and the (presumed deceased) swashbuckler tried to use him as a scapegoat when they were being interrogated by evil government warlocks. and even then, he only trusts morgran to not leave him for dead. baylock’s a fiercely loyal person by nature, so he’s been trying to keep his party at arms length so he won’t be betrayed again. the closest he came to starting to trust them was right before he found out that they told the evil government warlock that they’d turn him in in exchange for their freedom when they were captured a while back (whether or not they actually intended to do so is irrelevant for baylock - he spent 5 years in prison after being his old thieve’s guild’s fall guy, he’s not about to let it happen again)

23. how do they feel about nicknames, titles, or labels that have been given to them? how do they feel about their name?

kip: kip’s given name is joffric ravenhall. he’s been going by the alias of ‘greenbough’ on the offchance that people have heard of his family or knew his father at some point, since he really doesn’t want to explain why he’s not a priest of the raven queen by now. ‘kip’, however, is what his family and friends call him, so it was a bit of a big deal to him when he told the party to call him kip, since he hadn’t been around anyone he considered family or friend in a few years. kip’s reeling a little bit over suddenly being called an ‘adverturer type’ - to him, he’s still just a transient weirdo who picks up odd jobs.

baylock: baylock craft’s name isn’t actually baylock craft (not yet anyway lol), he stole his late cellmate’s identity to take advantage of the jailbreak that came a few days too late. his name, ekleipsis caldor, isn’t exactly something he identifies with so much as what he was once called. his father never wanted him but got stuck with him when his mother bounced, so ‘caldor’ is more a formality than anything. ‘ekleipsis’ is the greek root of ‘eclipse’, for the eclipse he was born during - but moreso, ‘ekleipsis’ doesn’t mean ‘to be covered’ - it means ‘a disappearance or abandonment’. an event where the sun abandons the sky. baylock is a walking abandonment issue. he hasn’t taken a virtue name because he thinks it’s performative (which is where him officially taking the name ‘baylock craft’ as his name and not the identity of someone he’s pretending to be comes in - it’s the equivalent of naming himself for the virtue of rebellion without naming himself something stupid and embarrassing like ‘rebel’.)

izak: izak just got done being haunted by a ghost wizard who’s obsessed with names, probably because he’s had 4. izak was born dalethiel oakleaf back when he was an elf, but when he ran away after waking up as a tiefling he went by dally. then he was a mercenary for a while and his edgy mercenary name was viper. and then, when asked for his name by the cleric of sarenrae who rescued him in the wilderness, he said he didn’t have one worth giving, so the cleric told him he’d just call him izak then. that’s who izak is now, as far as he’s concerned, or at least who he wants to be. as he told the ghost wizard who tried to torment him with his birth name, that’s not his name anymore. dalethiel oakleaf was a young elf who died on his 50th birthday. izak’s got a perfectly good name, given to him by a kind man, and he doesn’t want to think about the time in his life he went by dally or viper.

karif: karif always introduces himself formally with his full name, in the family-given-familiar name pattern - ‘ixenvari karifgethisk fraurirthos, er, but you can just call me karif.’ this is because karif’s nickname, fraurirthos, the one his childhood friends and family call him, translates from draconic literally to ‘breathes secrets’. his nickname is snitch. he’s a little embarrassed about it. but ‘karifgethisk’ is a bit of a mouthful for those who don’t speak draconic, so shortening it to ‘karif’ suits fine.

29. who would they save? who would they be saved by? 

this has been a tough one, i’m not sure how to answer it for anyone.

64. do they value mercy or justice more?

kip: this honestly depends on his mood and your definitions of both ‘mercy’ and ‘justice’. he’s very easily led away by his emotions - both pity and compassion that could sway him to lean more towards mercy, and rage that tends to harden his heart and clear his head. he’s more than down to torture someone if he deems them evil, and he’ll destroy creatures like aberrations, fiends, and undead without a second thought, but he views life as a very precious thing - even when torturing an evil demon-summoning spellcaster, he still was trying to find ways out that resulted in that spellcaster getting out alive. this has come back to bite the party in the ass, since it was kip’s insistance that the party not kill all the guards on their little anarchy stunt that got them blackmailed to infiltrate the evil army of darkness, which is something he most certainly DOES NOT want to do.

65. what is holding them back?

kip: kip’s hang-ups about the soul and how he was raised are holding him back from becoming a stronger necromancer, while his grief and refusal to accept mortality hold him back from possibly still being some flavor of raven queen follower.

baylock: baylock’s hesitance and confusion over what he wants are holding him back from either fully embracing the rebellion or ditching it to get vengence

izak: izak’s self-loathing and fear of himself hold him back from interacting with people and forming meaningful relationships outside of the handful of people who’ve found out he’s a tiefling.

69 (nice): how would they describe their party members?

kip:

maya is... complicated. kip admires her pragmatism and her faith - it reminds him of his older sister, and he’s been missing that rock in his life. however, he butts heads with her a lot, because he finds her cold duty-bound outlook to be pointlessly cruel.

meera is wicked smart and talented, if a little misguided at times. he’s very big brother protective of her, always trying to offer her his dagger because ‘it’s a nice dagger’ (it’s +1)

amity is a good kid, and smarter than some may give him credit for. he’s fun to be around, and usually a level-headed presence, which makes it even more surprising just how ok he is with killing.

baylock:

morgran is an asshole, but is also probably the only person in the group who believes in this whole rebellion thing, so that counts for something. he’s decent people, can probably be trusted to see a mission through and not do anything completely stupid, but since he’s decent people he’s probably going to insist on staying on this path of lunacy with delusions of ‘taking down the Summit’. also, morgran shouldn’t be allowed to talk to anyone they meet, because he’s an asshole, and doesn’t bother pretending to be personable like baylock does.

surina is insane. she’s deranged, like everyone who tries to live outside the sanctums is. also just racist at times. when their cover gets blown or when they get mixed up with people they should be talking down, she’s gonna be the reason they all get killed.

porthos is was an idiot and a liability and just proved him right by running off and doing something rash and probably getting himself killed and also maybe compromising the whole rebellion which baylock doesn’t care about, so why does he feel like he should have done more to stop Porthos’ demise?