I know everyone's methods are different, but when I'm posting for a character I usually try to think like them. Each character has a different feel to them, a different way of thinking, and if I can get into their personality writing for them becomes natural and flows so much easier than when I try to force it. One of the ways I get a feel for a char is through music, so I have playlists devoted to some of my characters. Anyway, I'm curious, do any of you guys have similar "in the zone" methods? How about songs that seem to embody a character?

Let's see...right now I tend to bounce between Monster by Meg & Dia and Beast by Nico Vega for Valentine. Neither really embody him, but Monster fits his desperation for love and the growly way Beast is delivered makes for good angsty muse xD

Since she's actually a pretty serious individual, Warja doesn't really have a playlist of things I listen to while writing for her, but a song that I feel could be Warja's theme song is Straight West by Kasket Club. I like the carefree feel to it, and that words fit her desire for adventure and the ever present threat of settled living.

For Thor, who is gruff and brutish, and yet somehow a closet marshmallow, either Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim or Little Lion Man by Mufford and Sons will do depending on how I feel about him at the time. I use Weapon of Choice because, if you haven't seen it, the music video is priceless and funny and quirky all rolled into one. It amuses me each and every time I watch it, and puts me in a good mood. I use it whenever Thor amuses me. Little Lion Man is a bit different. The line "weep for yourself, my man, you'll never be what is in your heart" sums him up perfectly. Other lines are a bit reaching, but that one gets me every time.

Shtiya, gets things like Pennies From Heaven by Louis Prima, The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley and The Witch Doctor by David Seville because he's silly and optimistic, but he's so little that he doesn't really have a playlist yet or even a theme song.

Since Sindri just got a personality makeover and I haven't written with her since then she doesn't have a playlist, but I have found a couple of songs that make me think of her. Lights (bassnectar remix) by Ellie Goulding and Teardrop by Massive Attack both have lines in them that remind me of her but not enough to really be considered theme songs.

The others don't really have anything in particular, they tend to get generic muse songs, but you get the idea xD

yes Laz has asked the magic question I use the same methods, Laz!

Except, I usually use whole bands, and just put their songs on shuffle for when I'm doing posts and such. However, individual songs sometimes overlap and all that jazziness.
However, when I have a headache from listening to music all day and jamming loudly to whatever music, I have to think of writing for the characters as actually getting into their character, like for a play or something. Since I'm pretty good at acting and these things, it's a half decent fallback. That doesn't mean I use it often. Music will be played until my ears bleed.

That being said, I'm going to follow suit and list the bands/songs I use to get into the mind of my lovely characters.

For Acadia, since she's based off of my favourite song by Marianas Trench, I tend to go for that band when writing her happy, carefree moments. When she's feeling all grumpy about something, or, eventually, stoned as hell (sorry Loki) I use various songs by the Arctic Monkeys.

Dyani, is one of my weird characters that I just can't figure out a band for. However, given that she's based off of the Winter Soldier (yes I'm a nerd shhhh), I use a lot of songs that are either related to the movie (it's the best movie with a great soundtrack I'm quite happy about it still) or songs that remind me of Bucky Barnes and/or Steve Rogers. The main song I use for her has to be The Winter Soldier from the actual soundtrack. (That's a link by the way and while the intro is kind of terrifying I love it so much)

Lakota is a mixture of Hedley, and Marianas Trench, as well as a song by Hollywood Undead every now and again. Lakota is the character I find to be the easiest to write, since we have fairly similar personalities, and similar affinities for vulgar language. So I don't always have to use music to tune into her personality.

Lillyth, being a new character, I have her whole style in the works. I'm mainly using Hollywood Undead, Disturbed, and, for reasons I have yet to discern, Britney Spears. I don't have much to say about her yet, but I can tell you now she's going to be my chaotic, destructive, angry lady. My venting character, if you will.

Sacha, is probably the happiest, simplest character I've ever had. She's just great, and her character tends to drag me into random, cheery, ridiculous pop songs. A lot of Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, some Marianas Trench and Hedley, depends on what kind of scene I'm putting her into.

Sigyn! Oh my sweet avocados, this character is a bucket of wonderful. Her band of inspiration would have to be Fall Out Boy. Their lyrics are perfect for her, especially their older songs. However, I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty sure her themesong is 'Talk Dirty (to Me)'.

I listen to music while posting for the most part. I seriously go through phases. I used to listen to Final Fantasy soundtracks and that only, because I couldn't focus on listening to songs with lyrics. But then I started to listen to Country, and now I'm listening to Top Hits. I tend to just turn on Pandora until I get money for an iTunes card and buy my favorite music.

Certain tones to music Trigger my muse in them. It could matter lesss what the Lyrics are, sometimes I do here lyrics and go "Oh that sounds like Caeto" But For the most part, almost all time, it is the base music.

I actually put songs in the "Other Information" of my profiles that remind me of the character, but may not actually "be" The character if you know what I'm saying.

Anyways, Character time:

Chrono - Was a mix of everything. But recently I found things that were about "feeling better" and "saying sorry" and what not. I have "Better" by Maggie Rose which was actually talking about having a drink and feeling better, Which I feel like Chrono wanted to do because of leaving his brother under a pile of rocks.

Amarant - I like to listen to happy drinking songs with him. Amarant as a pup is very energetic, happy, the party type if you want to say it that way. Things like "Drink to That" and "Bottoms Up" work for him. I also have "I Hold On" by Dierks Bently, which holds me to his family-oriented side.

Exodus - I think of Mellow kind of sad music with Exodus. He is a very happy and friendly wolf but I can't help but feel bad for him. I do have "That's the Only Way I Know" by Jason Aldean probably because he is blind and you know.. That's the only way he knows xD

Caeto - I went through a pretty rough rut with Caeto in the begining, He was searching for his family which is where I listened to "See You Again" by Carrie Underwood and I also listened to "Royals" by Lorde since he was no longer "royal".

Chione - Chione is everywhere. As do all my characters, it depends on the situation and the thread. But with Chione, it's to an extreme. When I wrote one of my threads where Chione had a nightmare and I decided to add that she cries sometimes after her nightmares, I was listening to "Sweater Weather" by The Neighborhood. And I'm not really sure why that struck me. Since I force Chione to be deprived and stay away from her family, I think the "It's too cold for you here" made the Chione part of me want all that freaking Chione love. "2 on" triggered her fighting words against Hypnos in the Olympus Challenge. Different motions in songs really trigger emotions in her.

Alvin - Is not born yet, but I think he will take a liking to Skillet and the offspring. Not really screamo music, but rough and strong music.

Oh I definitely do! Especially if I need to rp a character in a certain frame of mind. Each of my chars has a playlist specific to them, I also have just general mood music, mostly movie soundtracks to get me pumped for fights, focused for judging, ready for disasters, etc.

Here's my playlists off the top of my head, well the char specific ones anyway:

AKSEL

- "Heaven" - Emelie Sande (this is his main theme, the lyrics speak of struggling to do the right thing but "the day always lasts to long" which I feel really embodies his character especially as he gets older and starts learning that there are many ways to view morality)

-"Sugar we're going down" - Fall Out Boy (another teen anthem for Aksel, I particularly like this one for as he starts to explore love and his sexuality)

-"Dance, Dance" - Fall Out Boy (seems to be a lot of the early Fall Out Boy songs that seem to link to Aksel.

-"You're Gonna Go Far Kid" - The Offspring (eventually he'll start learning the power of words and turn into a manipulative little shit like his father, Loki. xD)

-"All Saints Day" - Silent Comedy (looove the tone of this one for some of Aksel's darker moments. Again another struggle with morality. He's not an admirable wolf but neither is he a demon.


BALDUR

-"Hemmorhage" - Fuel (Baldur's main theme, you'll see it in a looooot of his tables. Everything about this song I love. The tone, the lyrics. Baldur struggles with his memories and past that have left a hemmorhage in his heart particularly in regards to the death of his girlfriend Linne? whom he now hallucinates about. A big theme in a lot of his songs is guilt. As derpy and happy as he acts that guilt is a huge factor in how he developed)

-"Light of Day" - Silent Comedy (Another song about his struggle with guilt and time he spent in the darkness waiting for the "Light of Day". I really don't need songs to help me with his spunky side so most of these are a bit darker.

-"Ghosts That We Knew" - Mumford and Sons (His theme with Linne?, you'll recognize some of the lyrics in his table with her. It's a sorrowful song but still hopeful which I think sums up Baldur's characater pretty well)

-"You Put the Hurt On Me" - Steeldrivers (missing Linne?, dealing with the hurt of that loss. I also kind of like the way this one sounds with that blues/bluegrass tone. There's an earthiness to it I really like.)

D?GMAR

-"Keep the Streets Empty For Me" - Fever Ray (D?gmar's main theme. The tone of it is perfect, it's the right mood for D?gmar. They lyrics are also brilliant. It touches a bit on her her history, her sexuality, and this constant hunger that she can't seem to satiate.

- "Towers of the Void" - Brian Reitzell (a mood piece. This sounds weird but this song is how I imagine she moves. Just the way she stalks about. I don't know but this song always makes me thing of her)

-"I Sing the Body Electric" - Lana del Ray (D?gmar's song when she's feeling lustful or in heat.)

-"Curtained Life" - Entwine (Another one I like the tone of, a bit more aggressive and once again it's the lyrics that really caught my attention. They fit her really well, this strange sense of loyalty she has that can be so strong one moment and completely abandoned the next. Another struggle in search of herself.

SIGMARR

-"Be Somebody" - Thousand Foot Krutch (Sigmarr's theme song. Particularly the second verse really speaks to me. He's been broken down quite a bit but still struggles on. Despite how mature and strong he acts there's still a little boy deep down that never really got the chance to live. He's particularly close to his sister Valeriya, whom despite their fights, still keeps him a float. There's also his desire to "Be Somebody" in this song. He craves recognition, particularly from Valeriya and it is this desire that pushes him to want to start his own pack eventually.

-"Bartholomew" - Silent Comedy (Sigmarr was captured by the Desanka and forced to fight. There's a fair amount of blood on his paws, some of it innocent. There's a constant struggle in Sigmarr with his love of fighting and his desire to kill but at the same time knowing there's something inherently wrong with it. He'll struggle a lot with that darker side of himself and want to cleanse his mind of that stained part of his past)

-"Naudir" - Wardruna (Wardruna in general has the right tone for Sigmarr. In particular I like this song. The shift from the the quiet, tense moments in the song to the chorus is just perfect.)

-"Solringen" - Wardruna (A mood piece I like in particular for him. It just sets a nice general tone I love listening to it on repeat)

-"For the Win" - We Are In The Crowd (Fox found this one it is the perfect theme for Sigmarr and Valeriya particular after their big fight.)

ULLR

-"Songbird" - Bernard Fanning (The chorus fits him well, Ullr's been through a heck of a lot and is still suffering from the after effects of that. He doesn't really understand love very much and is timid and shy, later as he grows older he'll become moody and a constant wanderer. Love could save him though if he'll let it happen.

-"Cinder and Smoke - Iron & Wine (love the tone of this song. The lyrics really draw me in for Ullr though I can't really explain why. This idea of everything burning down in both a negative and positive way intrigues me.)

-"Fljotavik" - Sigur Ros (Another one I really like the tone of. There's something far off about it and appropriate about sailing through a storm to find shelter)

-"Wires" - The Neighborhood (I'm not sure why this one makes me think of Ullr. It's a great song for his darker moments and I think fits him more as an adult. Ullr does have issues with paranoia and the idea of the wires in his head fraying and leading to violence is going to become more of an issue as he gets older)

BIRNA

-"Unbreakable" - Fireflight (this is his theme for sure. She and her siblings have been through a lot but even so she's still going strong and believes herself to be unbreakable. She's a determined femme who won't let anything stand in her way, not her past or her fear.

-"Maybe Not" - Cat Power (I think the tone of this one really got to me first but I like the lyrics to. The idea of having a dream and shaking the land with it. That through her mind she can gain this sense of freedom she so desires after keeping a low profile under the repressive regime she was living under.)

-"The Voice of Sinnah" - Fox Amoore (another mood piece that I really like for her. It has this sort of "searching" feel to it that I really like for her. It's also mysterious and contemplative.

AUORA - special mention

-"Eg Veit I Himmerik Ei Borg" - Vox Humana here's the link as this is the version I'm talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P7rR3FbJrc There's mystery to this song that I really like, the quite, sorrowful yet hopeful tone. It's also fitting in that she's recently passed away. The etheral nature of it just really makes me think of her.