Character Playlist: Brass

Character art by Mr. K.

I mentioned in the Character Playlist Challenge that the Panic! At The Disco song “Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time” kind of directly inspired the character that eventually led me to write a whole book just to give me something to do with him. That character is Brass, that book is the one that got me a book deal, and this is his playlist.

I first tried Brass on as a D&D character in a friend’s game, but when the game fizzled out, I had a character I really liked, and nothing to do with him. A position I’m sure a great many writers and D&D players alike have found themselves in. So, he went into my Character Cupboard™, and I moved on with my life.

Fast forward a bit in my life, I’ve read Matt Colville’s Ratcatchers books, I’m about to graduate college, and the D&D campaign that I’ve been running for over two years and taken from level 1 to level 17 is coming to an end. And I found myself with a burning desire to write a book about seasoned heroes, who had gone through all the song and dance of your typical YA Fantasy adventure series and come out the other side deeply affected by the experience, and looking back at the legacy they’d left behind with equal parts nostalgia and regret.

So I put a team of characters together, many of whom had been living rent free in my head for a while, and of course, Brass was one of the first characters I brought onto the project.

When I started making playlists for the cast, Brass was far and away the easiest one to fill out the list for, and I think a big part of that is the fact that he was born from a song in the first place. That said, you can thank the rules of the Character Playlist challenge for the variety in the playlist as, if I hadn’t had them, this would just be 90% Panic! At The Disco.

“Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time” — Panic! At The Disco

I’ve kind of already talked about length how Brass was born almost fully formed from this song, so of course it’s up first. I actually think Brass is the only character I’ve ever made that was inspired exclusively by music. Or at the very least, he was my first. I doubt he’ll be the last.

“Sympathy for the Devil” — Rolling Stones

This is the song I have reserved in my head for introducing Brass. Just a slow pan across the aftermath of a wild night as that early percussion starts to roll in. A man who’s been all over, and caused trouble everywhere he went, and yet, he’s got a certain charm to him.

“Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” — Cage the Elephant

Adventuring as I conceive of it is a hustle—you scrape by until you finally manage to hit a big score like a bandit camp or an untouched ruin, blow half of it celebrating, and then try to eek out a living on what’s left until you can find the next one. And it’s hard to be picky about where that score comes from. Of all the Starbreakers, Brass is the one who respects that reality the most. Every glintchaser is just another person trying to get by—no hard feelings if they’ve gotta do some sketchy stuff to do it.

“What’s Up Danger (With Black Caviar)” — Blackway, Black Caviar

Straight up, Brass is an unrepentant, reckless thrill seeker, and I couldn’t possibly find a track that better encapsulated how badly he has this particular bug.

“Don’t Stop Me Now” — Queen

I find it very rare that I make a character playlist without including their bar fight song, and this one is Brass’s. Shoutout to Umbrella Academy on Netflix for showing me just how well this track can work in a violent context.

“The Other Side” — Hugh Jackman, Zac Effron

Brass has an eye for talent that he prides himself on. But as much as he likes to think of himself as the Hugh Jackman of this song, (and even though he inadvertently has been on at least one occasion) I like to think that at some point in his past, he was the Zac Effron getting told that his boring life was bullshit and he needed to cut loose.

“You’re Gonna Go Far Kid” — The Offspring

If the last song is how Brass sees his efforts to teach people to be glintchasers, this song is the reality of that relationship. It’s not that he doesn’t have an eye for talent, he does—but the life’s gonna be a lot more rough than he may have made it sound, and surviving is going to take a lot of fighting.

“Bang!” — AJR

Like all the Starbreakers, Brass is no stranger to big important suicide missions to save the world. And every time he’s ever gone on one, this has been the soundtrack to him psyching himself up for it. If he ever thinks a gig might be his last, his only concern is going out with as loud and flashy an exit as he can.

“Thnks fr th Mmrs” — Fallout Boy

Brass has no shortage of one night stands and exes, but I don’t actually think he’s that bitter about most of them. That said, I’m sure plenty of his exes are very bitter over having known him.

“Closing Time” — Semisonic

I actually cannot stress enough how much I like this song and how disappointed I am that I never went to a party or dance that ended with. Because quite frankly, every party should end with this song. I can’t think of a more fitting song to close out the playlist. If Brass’s life were a movie, this would play in its end credits.

Brass is one the original five Starbreakers, the leads of my debut fantasy novel, releasing Fall 2021. If you want to see more of him and can’t wait until then, he also turns up in a few of the Glintchasers shorts here on the site!