I just wanted a little burst of inspiration for some of the Sky High crap I'm currently writing, and I decided to use this to test my skills.
I got the idea from a Hey, Arnold! post. The rules are to put your iPod/mp3 player/etc. on shuffle and write a short drabble inspired by each song. The catch is, you have to write the drabble within the timeline of the song. Oh, and you can't skip any of the songs, no matter what.
This is going to be difficult as all hell, but I can't say I won't enjoy doing it.
Oh, and because this is a 'challenge,' I'm supposed to tag people. Well, because I like to be difficult, let's put it this way:
I tag everyone that's ever had writer's block, or otherwise questioned their ability to write good fanfiction.
4
1. "Hold On" by BWitched (When was the last time I listened to this song?)
You've always been a tough girl
But you feel you're about to break.
You're feelin' stuck, and outta luck
Watchin' your dreams all slip away.
Been workin' mornin's in the kitchen
And workin' nights at the corner store.
As your life flies by, you wonder why
And you know that there's gonna be somethin' more.
Hold on, but don't hold too tight
Let go, you're gonna be alright
Don't run away from what you're heart is sayin'
Be strong, face what you're afraid of
C'mon show 'em what you're made of
I know it's hard when your hope is gone
But you gotta be holdin' on.
Magenta smiled to herself, unable to believe her good luck as she glanced at the tall man sitting next to her. She was sitting in a cramped seat, on a plane that wouldn't be landing for another four hours, and she couldn't be happier.
Really, where would she be without him?
She hated planes. She always had. And yet, she was sitting in the middle seat, not in first class like she'd wanted to, and was surrounded by loud families, impatient businessmen, and generally unhappy customers.
"How are you?" Zach asked her, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
"Great," Magenta replied honestly.
2. "Girl's Mind" by Play (What kind of crap do I have on my iPod?)
You don't get it
Don't see it
Don't know what I want
Don't know how
I'm feelin'
You got me all wrong, boy
So don't you
Forget it
You'll never get inside
A girl's mind.
"Oh, you're so cute," Sue- err, Gwen- told him, leaning forward to place a small peck on her boyfriend's cheek. "Now, quickly. Tell me- what kind of weapon will these parts make?"
Will smiled sheepishly, studying the thirty or so different parts that were spread across his bed in plain confusion. "Umm… A shrink ray?" he asked questioningly.
Gwen clapped her hands softly. "Very good. We'll make a superhero out of you yet."
He had no idea what was coming.
3. "Light in Your Eyes" by Sheryl Crow
You gotta talk to the one who made you
Talk to the one that understands
Talk to the one who gave you all the light in you eyes
All of the light in your eyes.
Here comes the world and she is
Beautifully mysterious
She's got it all and you say,
"Give it to me."
Layla yawned, stretching her body tiredly as she smiled happily to herself. It was tough working the nightshift at the local diner, but it paid well and it wasn't like there was anyone crazy enough to try and break in or harass her.
The place may have been known simply as Joe's, but it was known to everyone as the only superhero hangout in the city. No one was daring, crazy, or just plain stupid enough to try and mess with this place.
"In lighter news," the reporter announced from the small TV Joe had hooked up across the counter against a wall, "The legendary Stronghold Three- that is, the Commander, Jetstream, and the Enforcer- have successfully defeated another madman in the heart of our fair city."
Layla rolled her eyes when she saw the pan of Will and his parents. Honestly, she wondered sometimes why she married such a total dork.
But then again, as he smiled sweetly into the camera, she wondered how she could not love him, and the light that forever shined in his eyes.
4. "She Hates Me" by Puddle of Mudd
Met a girl, thought she was grand
Fell in love, found out first hand
Went well for a week or two
Then it all came unglued
In a trap, tripped I can't grip
Never thought I'd be the one who'd slipped
Then I started to realize
I was livin' one big lie
She fuckin' hates me
I tried too hard and she tore my feelin's
Like I had none
And ripped them away!
So much had happened in such a short period of time. It was almost scary.
The worst of all had to be Gwen. Or Sue. Or Royal Pain. Or whatever you wanted to call her.
She had really managed to screw with him, and, worse, he never saw it coming for a second.
Layla did. Layla knew Gwen was freakin' nuts, and she tried to protect her best friend from that psycho's misery. And all he did in response was ignore Layla and the rest of his real friends and continue to date his soon to be nemesis.
At this point, Will barely knew up from down, she had him that snowed.
He could only hope he'd never get his ass- and his heart- get so badly kicked by another woman.
Maybe.
5. "Fight for All the Wrong Reasons" by Nickelback
Well, I wanted you
I wanted no one else
I thought it through
I got you to myself
You got off
Every time you got onto me
And I got caught up
In favorable slavery
Zach took a deep breath, slowly opening the door to his apartment, which he shared with his girlfriend of five years. At the moment, it was less of an apartment and more of a battlefield.
Magenta didn't say a word as he entered the apartment. Instead, she just continued to clean the dishes in their breadbox-sized kitchen, her back tight and stiff with barely contained anger.
After high school, he had met some new people in college, and made friends. Unbeknownst to him, a majority of his new friends happened to be friends with some of the people Magenta hated. Something about bad blood going all the way back to kindergarten, and he had made the mistake of meeting up with all of them and dragging Magenta along with him.
Needless to say, Magenta wasn't just pretending to be a badass punk rocker. Oh, no. She could do some major damage without anyone's help or powers.
Zach was pretty afraid of her.
It was a shame he was also in love with her.
6. "Let Go" by Frou Frou
Drink up, baby doll
Are you in or are you out?
Leave your things behind
'Cuz it's all going on without you.
'Scuse me, too busy
Writing your tragedy
These mishaps, you bubble up
When you don't do what you learn.
So, let go
Jump in
Oh, well, what are you waitin' for?
It's alright, 'cuz there's beauty in the breakdown.
"That's it," Layla snapped, slamming the door shut behind her. "I've put up with enough of this shit."
"Ooh! The hippie's cursin'! Should I be afraid?"
Layla resisted the urge to sneer. "Knock it off, Warren," she said, walking across the room and snatching the half-empty bottle out of his hand. "I'm tired of this. You've had more than enough time to mourn. Now you just need to step up and act like the man we all knew you as- once."
He didn't say anything. He just watched whatever TV drivel had captured his attention for the past three weeks, jaw set stubbornly.
Layla tried not to cry and scream in frustration as she growled, "Your mother died. I'm sorry. But you're drunk. And since when has that solved anything?"
For the first and last time in her life, she saw Warren Peace cry.
7. "So Close" by Jon McLaughlin
You're in my arms
And all the world is gone.
Music playin' along
For only two
So close together
And when I'm with you
So close to feeling alive.
It was funny. For a few seconds, in the weeks before Homecoming, there were moments, albeit fleeting, where Gwen almost reconsidered her master plans. Which was insane, because she had been planning this for decades.
And yet…
Take today. She was preparing for Homecoming, when Will admitted he had never learned how to dance at his house. They had been studying for Mad Science, but she couldn't focus after she heard that. Laughing, she turned the radio onto a jazz station he real father always used to listen to, and made Will stand up.
From there, she made him learn the correct steps for proper ballroom dancing. After all, he was going to be her date, and she couldn't very well go to a dance with a guy who didn't know how to dance. It just didn't make any sense.
No, teaching him how to dance was what didn't make any sense. Gwen didn't care about Will! She was using him!
Or was she…?
8. "My Own Worst Enemy" by Idina Menzel (This one's going to be hard…)
My mother's always tryin' to tell me
How to be grateful, how to believe.
My father's always tryin' to say,
"Baby, you're beautiful in every way."
My lover's always got me in his arms
Tryin' to protect me, keep me from harm.
So why do I always have to be
My worst, my own worst enemy.
No one would believe that Layla could possibly be this self-destructive. And yet, somehow, she managed to hurt herself more than ever. Every time she tried to have a relationship with someone, it always ended badly, for everyone.
And not just romantic relationships, either. Friendships, acquaintances, even her relationship with her parents- it always went sour at some point, somehow. Always.
And then there was him. For whatever reason, he had never left her side. She was a ticking time bomb, about to blow and ruin everyone around her, and yet he was somehow immune to all of the shrapnel she was capable of throwing around.
They weren't even dating, and yet he stuck by her side, refusing to let her down. It was amazing he hadn't gotten sick and tired of her and left.
Instead, Warren just pulled her closer, like he could maybe save her from herself.
9. "Bad Girlfriend" by Theory of a Dead Man (Holy crap! I love this song!!)
My girlfriend's a dick magnet
My girlfriend, gotta have it
She's hot, can't stop
Up on stage, doin' shots
Tip the man, he'll ring the bell
Get her drunk, she'll scream like hell
Dirty girl, gettin' down
Dancin' with guys from outta town
Grab her ass, actin' tough
Mess with her she'll fuck you up
No one really knows if she's drunk or if she's stoned
But she's comin' back to my place tonight
Layla stared out at the mass of gyrating bodies. Why was it that she was here again? Oh, right, Magenta wanted to have some fun for once, which meant leaving her faithful husband behind for once to party with her best friend.
"You don't look like you're having any fun," a deep voice whispered in her ear.
She prepared herself to let down the idiot nicely, but forcefully, taking a big gulp of her beer as she turned on her heel. To her surprise, she happened to know the idiot in question.
"Hi," she strangled out, trying not to choke on her beer as she did. Six feet tall, every inch of it muscle, and drop dead handsome. This was just cruel.
"You need to dance," Warren suggested. "You look too uptight, hippie."
Before she could object, he was slowly but forcefully dragging her towards the dance floor as she polished off the rest of her beer. She was going to need it, if the rest of her night was going to be like this.
10. "Silent Movie" by Natasha Bedingfield
In this silent movie
There's no talking
You're just an actor
So, break into my story
Take it over
Paint me with color
It's hard thinking back to a time when Will wasn't in the picture.
Will Stronghold was Layla Williams' best friend, and she had known him all her life. She didn't know it was like to live without him, as a matter of fact.
But after there short-lived relationship ended, or, more specifically, fizzled out into exactly nothing, Layla was confronted with some new and startling facts. She wasn't in love with Will. He was just her best friend.
That certainly was anticlimactic.
That breakthrough brought about another and far more startling breakthrough. It wasn't Will that had suddenly switched her life into the new and bright colors of an otherwise dreary, black and white life.
With that breakthrough and few others under her belt, she resolved to head off to the Paper Lantern. It was time some other people got to share in her breakthroughs.
4
All in all, this wasn't too bad. I kind of liked it, in fact. There were a few songs that were kind of tough to push through, but I think they all turned out really well. Personally, I like the first one the best, but numbers 7 and 8 turned out pretty great.
It's funny, but I kind of like these Gwen-focused ficlets, which is weird, because everyone knows she's a total whack-job, but it was fun writing from her point of view.
Now, on to replicate this idea with more fandoms!